‘Khmeraspora’: A Celebration of Cambodian Culture and Arts
The collaboration between the Long Beach Symphony and rapper PraCh Ly tells the story of a Cambodian American experience from the Khmer Rouge to present day
"Khmeraspora" was a collaboration between the Long Beach Symphony and the Cambodian American community.
Caught in the Moment Photography
Words by Samantha Pak
When the Khmer Rouge came to power in Cambodia in 1975, the regime did more than kill a quarter of the country’s citizens at the time. They also did their best to destroy its culture.
In addition to Buddhist monks and ethnic minorities, the Khmer Rouge systematically targeted and killed the educated, artists, actors, and musicians—nearly succeeding in wiping out the country’s artistic population. By the end of their four-year reign, almost all of Cambodia’s creatives had either been killed, exiled, or traumatized to the point that they couldn’t practice their art again.
Now, nearly four and a half decades later, Cambodian Americans are showing that while we may have been down for a moment, we were never out. From performance art and stage productions, to visual art and the written word, folks are using creative ways to tell the story of the Cambodian diaspora—and show the world that a traumatic past doesn’t define our future.
Representing and celebrating Khmer culture
In Long Beach, California Khmer pride was recently celebrated and on full display with Khmeraspora, a show put on by the Long Beach Symphony, in partnership with the local Cambodian community—fitting as the city is home to the largest one outside of Cambodia.
While there were only two performances, held on one night at the end of April—to close out a month of Cambodian New Year celebrations—both performances had sold-out crowds of about 3,000 each, and symphony president Kelly Ruggirello says they would like to take the show on the road and perform around the country in other cities with large Cambodian populations.
And on June 13, the Long Beach Symphony’s board of directors honored Cambodian American rapper and Long Beach native PraCh Ly, who wrote and directed the show, for uniting and educating “generations from the Long Beach community and beyond,” says Ruggirello.
Ly was the first Cambodian American to receive this honor.
“I was not expecting anything,” he says. “But, I am humbled and truly honored for the special recognition award, but it is a collaborative, ensemble of talents and artists, so the award belongs to everyone involved.”
PraCh Ly lights incense before the show, a pre-performance Khmer tradition.
Caught in the Moment Photography
The idea for the show was born when the symphony approached Ly about collaborating. Rappers performing alongside an orchestra is nothing new—Mos Def, Jay-Z and The Roots, and Nas have all done it—but Ly was the first rapper to collaborate with the Long Beach Symphony since it started in 1935, and he knew exactly what he wanted to do.
“You can’t just go to the symphony and be like, ‘Hey, I want to work with you. I want to hire you,’” Ly says. “They don’t do that. It’s more prestigious, where they select the artists or the person that they’re working with. And then giving them that opportunity—again, you know, 88 years, right? They didn't ever work with a rapper. And given the opportunity, I wanted to represent.”
Rather than rapping his greatest hits accompanied by the orchestra, Ly wanted Khmeraspora to tell a story.
“We came as refugees, and we were displaced from a war-torn country,” Ly says. “So that’s when the word ‘diaspora’ came about and the word ‘Khmer’—and we put that together. So the show itself tells the story of a Cambodian American experience from Killing Fields to how we are now, in America.”
The future of Khmer performing arts
A combination of past and present, of tradition and modern, Khmeraspora also features a plethora of Cambodian American artists—from musicians (playing traditional Cambodian and western instruments) and traditional Cambodian dancers, to actors and composers—because as Ly puts it, “our community is so gifted, there’s so much talent in our community.”
One of those talented community members is composer Chinary Ung. Ung, a music professor at the University of California, San Diego, composed three songs that premiered at the show—two that accompanied vocals (one rapped by Ly and one sung by actress Kalean Ung), and one song for a dance number featuring members of Modern Apsara Company. In creating these pieces Chinary Ung blended the very different sounds and aesthetics of traditional Cambodian music and a symphonic orchestra—finding a way for the two styles to inspire and complement each other in what he describes as a very important confluence of arts.
“We are making the future development of the Khmer performing arts and culture,” Ung says. “We are in the front row of how the arts will flow forward.”
In addition to bringing together two different musical styles together, Khmeraspora was also a multi-generational show. Ung represents first-generation immigrants (he actually immigrated to the United States in the mid 1960s, prior to the Khmer Rouge), Ly is a member of the 1.5 generation, having immigrated at the age of 2, and 16-year-old flutist Kaitlyn Mady is the next generation.
Mady was one of the youngest performers in Khmeraspora, and says being surrounded by amazing musicians and people, and performing with such a wide mix of Khmer people from different backgrounds and generations has been “a dream.” It was one of her favorite things about the show. As someone who was born and raised in Long Beach, but isn’t surrounded by Khmer kids and didn’t learn about the Khmer Rouge until she was older, being part of a show specifically about and for the community was particularly meaningful for her.
Sixteen-year-old flutist Kaitlyn Mady.
Caught in the Moment Photography
Having so many people from his community come together for this show also meant a lot to Ly—because even though the symphony may have approached him, Khmeraspora was much bigger than him.
“I am truly blessed by all the support from everyone,” he says. “Because they look at it and it's not it's not a ‘PraCh thing,’ you know? It’s an ‘our thing.’ It’s a community thing. Coming together. And again, I'm fortunate enough to have the support of the people.”
Published on July 10, 2023
Words by Samantha Pak
Samantha Pak (she/her) is an award-winning Cambodian American journalist from the Seattle area and co-editor in chief for JoySauce. She spends more time than she’ll admit shopping for books than actually reading them, and has made it her mission to show others how amazing Southeast Asian people are. Follow her on Twitter at @iam_sammi and on Instagram at @sammi.pak.