Description:
This lecture explores how Thai and Northern Thai music and cultural traditions can inspire contemporary music composition. Through selected works by the composer—including Dances of a Hill Tribe, Fall (Variations on Colors), and Loi-Krathong (The Light Festival)—the session demonstrates how traditional melodic gestures, rhythmic patterns, improvisational practices, tuning systems, and cultural symbolism can be transformed into modern chamber and ensemble works.
The session highlights the coexistence of Thai and Western tuning systems, the adaptation of hill tribe drum patterns, and the role of improvisation in Thai classical music. Combining cultural insight with accessible musical analysis, the talk offers participants a deeper understanding of how local traditions, personal narrative, and contemporary compositional techniques can merge to create distinctive and meaningful works.
The talk is designed to be engaging for both musicians and non-musicians, making cultural and compositional concepts clear and approachable.
Throughout the talk Aj. Chaipruck will share his compositions, giving detailed explanations of his compositional choices. There will be opportunities for Q & A both during and after the presentation.
Presenter: Doug Mann
Aj. Chaipruck Mekara is a well known composer, conductor and educator. A native of Chiang Mai, and graduate of Payap University, he went on to earn a Master of Music degree, double majoring in Music Composition and Clarinet Performance, from Roosevelt University. In 2003, Aj. Chaipruck received his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Music Composition from Northwestern University.
Like many Asian composers who pursued education abroad, Mekara realized the value of his native culture while in a foreign land. His music seeks to blend the aesthetic philosophies of the East with the compositional techniques of the West. His works have been performed by the Thai Youth Symphony Orchestra, the Chiangmai Philharmonic Orchestra, Northshore Symphony Orchestra, Whitworth
Wind Symphony, Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra, at the China-ASEAN Music Week (2015), and by various ensembles including the TIMF Ensemble (Korea) and TICF artists-in-residence (Thailand). His compositions have also premiered at the World Choir Games (2012, Cincinnati, OH), the International Trumpet Guild (2011, Minneapolis, MN), the Thailand International Composition Festival, and the Asian Young Musicians’ Connection.
Aj. Chaipruck was invited as a conductor and composer in residence for the prestigious China-ASEAN Music Festival from 2015 to 2019, held in Nanning, Quangxi, China. In 2005 he founded the Chiangmai Philharmonic Orchestra Foundation which includes The Chiangmai Philharmonic Orchestra and The Chiangmai Philharmonic Band, and where he still serves as conductor and music director. Additionally, he is an assistant professor at the College of Music, Payap University, where he teaches Music Composition, Clarinet, Saxophone, and other subjects.
In September of 2025, Aj. Chaipruck’s talk at Lifelong Learning Payap on Using Thai Elements in Western Music Composition was well attended and received overwhelmingly positive reviews. His informal presentation style, clear English,humor, and ability to make complex musical concepts accessible to non-musicians make him an excellent presenter.
COST : 350 THB
