reunited in Saraburi

Beloved Thai Chefs who kept us well fed

Butterflies in the Sky

Welcome to the Jungle! We spent the last three days working with the Thailand Youth Choral Camp at Chulalongkorn University, Saraburi, in rural Thailand. It is impossible to describe the lush jungle scenery we have been surrounded by - imagine birds and bugs so loud it drowns out your conversations, starry skies full of constellations, and even fireflies in the marsh boardwalk path. Many of us Portlanders are nature lovers, and there was a collective sigh of relief to get out of the bustling city environment for the first time on this trip.​

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The Thailand Youth Choral Camp is about 80 singers in total when combined with PSU. Of the Thai singers present, for more than half of them this is their first time ever singing in a choir. Many of them recently graduated from high school or are in college, with quite a few music majors. (We had the privilege of being surrounded by trumpets, flutes, and clarinets practicing in the dorms during breaks.) When you hear the video of our rehearsal in this post, you will see how blown away we have been by their sound and how quickly they learn! It’s all thanks to the conductor who teaches these 9 hour rehearsal days, 10 days in a row. TJ Harper has been directing this camp choir for 8 years, supported administratively by Dr. Jodie Pawasut Piriyapongrat. Jodie’s former conducting students Natthita Wongprom and Supitcha "KC" Kansirisin run warm-ups and conduct one song each. These four people have been our wonderful hosts and leaders for this life-changing musical experience. Jodie also gave a conducting masterclass for PSU music education students Felipe Araya and Kendell McCrary, and Ethan did the same for Thai students Danube and Will.

Just like every choir we have met on tour (and we have met FIVE so far!), the Thai singers and PSU students have become fast friends, spending many late hours playing Badminton and board games after rehearsal. Check out our rehearsal video of "Verbum Caro Factum est" by Hans Leo Hassler below!

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Natthita Wongprom, former PSU student and Thailand Youth Choral Camp staff, was truly the whole reason why this entire tour happened in the first place. As I introduced myself in the first post, I am also a former GTA and graduate of the Masters in Choral Conducting program. Natthita and I were GTAs at the same time (class of 2023) and worked very closely together, so this time in Thailand has been so precious to me and many others who were in our Rose & Thorn Choirs and/or sang with Natthita in Chamber Choir. Without further ado, here’s more about Natthita and what she has been up to in the last two years!

Natthita Wongprom, Master of Choral Conducting, PSU Class of 2023 - leading rehearsal at Choir Camp

​Q: What have you been up to since PSU?

Natthita: After I graduated from PSU, I’ve been back in Thailand for almost two years, and of course I’m doing choir! For now, I’m doing children’s choirs mostly and community choirs. I direct the Thailand Children’s Choir and Wattana Wittaya Academy Girls School Chorus - one choir as the main director and two as an assistant. I am also an adjunct instructor at the Department of Music, Faculty of Humanities, Kasetsart University where I teach one university choir. These three take up most of my time but I am also called in to work with many high school choirs, judge festivals, and frequently teach a senior choir. That’s five choirs on the regular but sometimes up to nine different groups per week, and I also serve as a committee member of the Thailand Choral Directors Association. 

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Q: And what is the age range across all of these choirs you work with?

Natthita: Such a wide range! At Wattana Academy I have a 2nd grade choir, so six or seven year olds, and then in a senior choir I work with there is someone who is 90 years old. So six to ninety!

Q: What drew you to PSU’s Conducting program?

Natthita: When I was first looking for conducting programs, my mentor in Thailand Dr. Jodie said to check out Portland just because it was a beautiful city. I started searching for programs in Portland, saw PSU, and saw Ethan Sperry’s name. It looked familiar because I had sung one of his arrangements, Desh, for the first time here at this camp! TJ programmed Desh here in 2019. I did some research on Ethan and saw that he graduated from University of Southern California which is the same school as Jodie. I also applied to some other schools, and every place saw some [potential] in me, but Ethan said if I went to PSU I would get tuition completely covered with the GTA position. [Of the schools I applied to], PSU was also the school that gives Masters students the most “podium time” in front of a choir. Other schools that have Doctorate programs in music will give that time to the DMA students over the Masters students. That was one of the main reasons I went to PSU.

Q: Me too, for the record! What was one of the biggest takeaways from your degree at Portland State?

Natthita: So many things… I’ve learned a lot, but I think one of the biggest ones is that I changed a lot after I got back from Portland because everyone at PSU is very, very supportive. Everything you do, they are so supportive. I was nervous at first and had a lot of anxiety about being an international student. English is not my native language, but everyone at PSU made me feel more confident, especially Ethan. I was not afraid to do things wrong. It’s okay to be wrong! Ethan always tells me that instead of “right is positive, wrong is negative” it’s actually just different ways to learn. And not just Ethan but also Coty—I saw their teachings and it’s really supportive and positive. For example when the choir does something wrong, instead of saying “no that’s wrong, do it again,” Ethan says “almost! Let’s try something different.” He gives confidence to everyone around him. I definitely brought this [mindset] back to Thailand. Everyone and everything in Portland made me feel much calmer and more gentle. Before I went to Portland, I used to be very tough but Portland changed me a lot [in that way].

Q: What are you most excited for going forward in your career?

Natthita: I’m going to keep this [positive mindset] in mind. Like Ethan says, choir is not just music, choir is about the people making the music. Before you want to make music, you have to make them love doing it first. You have to inspire everyone to love being in a choir. So, the motivation to be in a choir is as important as the music itself. That would be my main goal in my career.

Joyfully Reunited - Lindsey and Natthita

​Q: Any final words?

Natthita: I love you all, PSU friends! And I love Portland. I miss Portland and I miss PSU everyday.

Q: We miss you too and we are so glad to be here with you!

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More tomorrow - thanks for tuning in!
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​- Lindsey