The 11th Asia-Pacific Wataboshi Music Festival
Welcome to official website of the 11th Asia-Pacific Wataboshi Music Festival.
The 11th Asia-Pacific Wataboshi Music Festival has come back!
The 11th Asia-Pacific Wataboshi Music Festival has come back after the long waiting due to the flood situation in Bangkok last year. The festival has been rescheduled from 27 February - 2 March 2012 with the gala concert on 29 February at the National Theatre, Bangkok, Thailand.
The gala concert, known as Wataboshi concert, is the unrivalled opportunity to enjoy an evening of listening to and watching beautiful music performed by people with disabilities, honored as Wataboshi artists, from cities across Asia-Pacific namely, Brisbane, Ho Chi Minh, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Johor Bahru, Kaohsiung, Manila, Nara, Shanghai, Singapore, Suwon and Bangkok. Apart from these performances of the Wataboshi artists, we will enjoy various styles of music from our special guests and performances as follows:
- Thai 4-region Cultural Show by Bundit Patanasilpa Institute
- Veerapong Tavisak, an internationally famous glass harp player collaborating with Human Station and Sit Kanapol, a one-handed guitarist
- David Nabb, a famous one-handed saxophonist from USA collaborating Nil Yongsit, a young saxophonist and Pang Ubolwan, a talented pianist
- Isan folk music by people with disabilities from Khonkhaen
- Koong Sutthirat and Kat Rattakarn, Thai famous folk song singers from RSiam
The highlight of the concert is the Celebration in Honor of His Majesty the King of Thailand by the Wataboshi artists who will sing the 'Smile' song, specially composed for people with disability by His Majest the King of Thailand. At the end of the concert, the National Theatre will resound with every voice of artist in 'Little Dandelion', the Wataboshi theme song. This 2-hour concert is a must-not-miss opportunity for music lovers and those who think that 'equal opportunity' counts!
Artist of Wataboshi 2011
Pornpakawa Khamnerdkham (Bangkok)
Mr. Pornpakawa or Cham has liked composing songs since he was a schoolboy. He likes Thai and Isan folk song music. While he worked at the Office of Primary Schools in Chaiyapoom province, he made his own album called 'Chao Por Phraya Lae' or 'the God Father of Phraya Lae'. All the songs were written by Cham with the help of his friends in arrangements.
In 1993, Cham was hit by a car. Five years later, he had a cancer at his back bones resulting from the previous accident. After the operation to cure the cancer, he has not been able to walk since then.
At present, Cham stays at home spending most of his time to compose songs on his own PC. Up to now, he has had almost 5,000 songs in collection. He likes writing diary but instead of doing normal writing, he turns them to songs. However, he has never had any albums after developing his disability.