The first Thai composer to be commissioned to write for a major European opera house: Prach Boondiskulchok’s new operas in Amsterdam and Brussels

Prach Boondiskulchok

Composer Prach Boondiskulchok is perhaps as well known as a pianist, as part of the Linos Piano Trio [see my review of their 2023 disc, Maurice Ravel: In search of lost dance] but that may be about to change.

His opera short Lesson will be premiered in the Opera Forward showcase at the Muziekgebouw, Amsterdam on 12 March by Dutch National Opera as part of a programme of seven new operas under the banner of Harvest. Harvest is the result of mezzo-soprano and director Cora Burggraaf’s invitation to a group of contemporary composers to each write a short monodrama in close collaboration with several well-experienced singers. Each composer and musician collaboration provokes a fresh approach to straddling the tension of opera: contextualising itself within historical repertoire whilst innovating forwards, with new conceptualisations of colour and texture. And Boondiskulchok will be developing Lesson into a full-length work for Mascarade Opera.

But his full-length opera Burmese Days, based on George Orwell’s 1936 debut novel Burmese Days, has been commissioned by La Monnaie / De Munt in Brussels and will be premiered in summer 2027. The work is an exploration of the colonial mores at an exclusive members club in the dying days of the British Empire.  Controversy and tensions arise when the club admits their first non-European member.   Political ambitions and romantic entanglements spill over against the backdrop of colonial machinery and Buddhist cosmology.  The opera is scored for classical ensemble Het Muziek and virtuoso musicians from Myanmar and Thailand (Hsaign Waing and Piphat music) – this will be a modern synthesis of Western and Southeast Asian music traditions.

In 2025, Boondiskulchok was a resident composer with Het Muziek (formerly Asko|Schönberg Ensemble) conducting research and development for his new opera, Burmese Days.  He is the first Thai composer to be commissioned to write for a major European opera house. 

Further information from his website.