Teaching & Collaboration

At the heart of the Chiang Mai Music Festival are vibrant live performances by visiting international artists for the people of Thailand along with persons of many nationalities and walks of life who comprise the Festival's growing audience. While the better known face of the Festival is its free and open-to-all public performances, the Festival's equal energy is directed at teaching, inspiring, and befriending youth. In these ways the Chiang Mai Music Festival engages with local youth by its immediate presence and by contributing to goal-setting, striving, excellence, and realizing one's legitimate dreams.

This year the Festival is delighted to visit and play a concert at the Chiang Mai Youth Observation and Protection Center in Mae Rim. Contrary to sometimes voiced notions about audience enjoyment of Western classical music, the Founders and Artists of the Chiang Mai Music Festival presume no specific knowledge of or exposure to this genre of music and are not focused primarily on cultivating a small groups of classical musicians or connoisseurs. In the time shared at the Chiang Mai Youth Observation and Protection Center the Festival Artists will do what they most essentially do everywhere - bring their best and their most beautiful in the belief that "simply beautiful classical music" is one of the most powerful expressions of human sensibilities, human dignity, and the human heart.

During previous years and in keeping with its range of interaction with youth, artists and teachers of the Chiang Mai Music Festival have performed at Montfort College Secondary School, Prem Tinsulanonda International School, Regina Coeli College, Prince Royals College, Dara Academy, Chiang Mai University Demonstration School, as well as at Meijo University.

Regularly Festival artists have taught at local music schools associated with the Festival's oldest sponsor, Siam Music YAMAHA Co., Ltd. and, over several years, they also have taught at Payap University Youth Program. The Festival's Artistic Director, Professor Tong-Il Han, has given master classes at Payap University and himself has taught at all the afore-mentioned schools.

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