Duo Blend Irish-American Music with Thai Tradition

January 14-15, 2010

Duo Blend Irish-American Music with Thai Tradition

The dynamic music duo of Matt and Shannon Heaton visited Thailand earlier this month where they held workshops and performances in Ubon Ratchathani and Surin on January 14 and 15. The extremely talented musicians were a dream-come-true for Embassy Bangkok's Cultural Affairs Office, as the couple not only spent much of their short time in Thailand playing with Thai musicians, but they also took a deep interest in learning more about Thai music, even preparing three new pieces for their tour of Thailand.

These unique musical pieces blended Irish-American music with traditional Thai stories sung in the Thai language. The duo's energy and liveliness, combined with Shannon's flawless Thai and familiarity with Thai music, resulted in an immediate and lasting connection between the two American musicians and their Thai audiences. Khun Matt and Khun Non --as they two are known in Thai -- delighted dozens of high-school and undergraduate students, as well as hundreds of spectators who attended the Fifth Annual Surin International Folklore Festival at Surindra Rajabhat University.

True cultural diplomats, Matt and Shannon sought out opportunities to learn more about Thailand at every turn. While at Ubon Ratchathani Rajabhat University, the two used their lunch time to learn about traditional northeastern melodies from professors in the music department there. Musicians and professors then joined forces during Matt and Shannon's concert to perform these newly-learned melody in front dozens of thrilled students. At a high-school in Surin, the Irish-American duo invited a student to play with them and then joined in on during a presentation of traditional Thai music by a music teacher and some of her students.

Much was learned on both sides of the cultural equation over the two-day visit of this very talented American musical duo, and a spectacular time was had by all!