Post by Catherine Louise Geach

Dear Friends of our School, Sometimes one is given a very great treasure of immeasurable value. It cannot be bought, for it is the gift of Love. And so it is with our School, founded 34 years ago and built 32 years ago during the Cambodian civil war. All the vision, determination and endurance are hidden from human eyes, but that which shines forth, is Love. In all these many years with my beloved Staff and a generation of Children, our School thrives, because of them. In this beautiful short video made in 2024 of our 30th Anniversary since the founding of our School, there are some significant moments. The first, is our Children singing the Cambodian National Anthem. When I first came to Cambodia, King Norodom Sihanouk was later to return from exile. With my Music Students from the Royal University of Fine Arts, we made the first recording of the Cambodian National Anthem in Cambodia. The first since the Fall of Phnom Penh. Previous recordings after the Khmer Rouge genocide had been made by North Korea. Gathered in a wooden hut, we made that Historical Recording and later performed it for His Majesty. Here then over 30 years later, my Children of our School were Singing it, and once more I was playing the Anthem on my Violin, this time in front of the Secretary of State for Culture, and the British Ambassador, His Excellency Dominic Williams. This video also shows our students performing Robam Chuon Puor, (Blessing Dance), and our Blind Students performing Traditional Mohori. Music. At the very end of this video, is a most special Ballet, danced to the Music of American Composer, Stephen Melillo, "I Hear Now In Heaven" . Maestro Melillo with always great kindness and generosity allowed us to Dance to his Work. The beginning of the Dance choreography to "I Hear Now in Heaven", depicts the long journey and seemingly insurmountable challenges I faced before and while building our School during the war. In this Dance, during a moment of Prayer in front of the Buddha, at last, after much endurance, I "Hear" the coming of the first of our Children. One by One I bring them in, until they themselves take on this Dance... because our School is for them. The final Dance Movements are Khmer and symbolize Prayer, Love and Gratitude. I chose this immensely Beautiful Work to Dance to, because the Music speaks both of great struggle and the transcendent unutterable sweetness of Peace. The title of this Work, is dedicated to Beethoven, who, by then completely deaf and on his deathbed said, "I shall Hear Now in Heaven". There are Depths that one cannot express with words, but which can only be expressed through True Music ...and here also through the Truth of the Body... Dance. In Profound Gratitude to my dear Staff and Children and for our School. Som Ah-kun 🙏 "I Hear Now In Heaven" by Stephen Melillo (Album "Chapter 89:Worlds Within the World" . Recorded by the Musique Militaire Grand-Ducale Luxembourg, 2024). https://lnkd.in/efXHbW-t