Gift Gam Gun Piano Recital

 

(Left to right) Mother, Gift, Gun, Gam, Father

Goethe-Institut Auditorium.  Bangkok, Thailand.  July 9, 2013.  There are some evenings that give old fogies like me a warm feeling and a belief that there are some things right with the world.  For that kind of experience, I have to turn to younger generations: my contemporaries tend to be as jaded and cynical as am I.  I first heard the three Chaikittiwatana siblings play the piano about three years ago and was much impressed.  Since then, Gun and Gam, who are twins age 15, and Gift, age 19, have continued their piano studies to great effect.  As most people appreciate, talent, which all three have in abundance, is only part of the picture; hard work and total dedication are the additional required ingredients.  While there are a few exceptions, almost all successful pianists started at a very early age and never stopped, thereby giving up, at least to some extent, what some would consider a “normal childhood.” 

Gift and Gun are music scholarship students at one of Bangkok’s leading international high schools, and Gam has just completed her freshman year at Itacha College School of Music in New York.  All have won prizes, and their talent and potential have been recognized (who could miss it!).  Gun has entered the Thailand International Piano Competition which is being held this month at Mahidol, and I expect him to do very well.

Gift’s, Gam’s and Gun’s recital program, with each playing several works, was a long one, but the evening flew by.  What all three have in common are beautiful musicality and fluid and clear techniques.  Their absorption and immersion in what they were playing was visually evident by their concentration, but it all came out as beautiful music.

I don’t know if talent like this is inherited or not, but Gif’s, Gam’s and Gun’s parents were present, and all I could think of was:  I hope they have more children.