Salaya Music Ensemble (SME) at the Goethe

Conductor Parinya Chucherswatanasak lead the SME as if his 16 musicians were a full symphony orchestra.

Goethe Institut. Bangkok, Thailand. June 7, 2012. Sixteen young musicians, both students and recent graduates of the College of Music, Mahidol University, have formed a small ensemble to perform classical new music and some classics. With the exception of one piece, tonight's concert at the Goethe Institut Auditorium, showed their classical side, with Beethoven's Overture to Prometheus, Mozart's Divertimento in F Major, and Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto. As one can well imagine, 16 musicians cannot sound like the full orchestra needed to perform these classics, but the enthusiasm and dedication of the group was evident and admirable. Two things came to the forefront: the young conductor, Parinya Chucherswatanasak, lead the SME as if he were conducting a major symphony orchestra, and I'm sure that in his mind, he heard 100 musicians playing. He was wonderful to watch. Also, the auditorium was packed, a not very frequent occurrence.