Soundwave is back for our third year in a row, unveiling our most recent Sound Academy graduates. The Sound Initiative (TSI) prepares aspiring musicians with skills and experience needed to prosper in Cambodia’s growing creative industry. Our mission is to create long term employment and support the revival of original Khmer music.
Soundwave, our live musical showcase, features emerging talent in collaboration with existing Cambodian music stars. This year featured Sang Sokserey, Bross La, and Van Chesda. This concert is equally anticipated by the artists and our growing following of original Khmer music fans. Though this year’s performance was delayed by COVID, creative expression can’t be kept down.
This year creativity went online. After months of training, supported by mentors, the resulting collaboration with Smart Pleng and Realme yielded a month-long social media campaign with animations by Phare Creative Studio, a full-length album, and a digital concert with four different stage sets, reflecting music through Khmer history.
As we head into our third year, we have a lot to celebrate as our programme continues to grow. Our first year (2018- 2019) supported a range of musical roles including, artists, songwriters and musicians. In 2019, we expanded our programmes from performance arts to technical roles including audio engineering and music technology. 2020 has further widened our offering with the addition of a high-grade professional studio. This studio is an open opportunity for anyone with dreams of recording a song or even a full album with the best sound and recording equipment in Phnom Penh.
TSI Music Academy 2019 - 2020 was funded by the British Embassy in Cambodia #UKKH #CreativityisGreat. Shout out to Pleng by Smart and Realme for their support of our digital concert.
“Releasing and performing original songs is the ultimate challenge and the greatest reward. This next group of exciting original artists and producers have again showed how talent, creativity and hard work combine to make inspiring music”
— Euan Gray, Music Director - The Sound Initiative
