Arn Chorn-Pond survived the killing fields of the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia in part through music. Now he uses music as a means of peacemaking and trauma healing, both personally and for his country.
Raised in a family centered in Cambodian opera, when the Khmer Rouge came to power he was taken away from his family and placed with many children in a former Buddhist temple. Every day children were killed while the other children were forced to watch, not allowed to show any emotions. Chorn-Pond survived by playing a flute to entertain soldiers with propaganda songs, and at various times he and his master teacher saved each other’s lives by pleading for each other.
When the Vietnamese Army invaded Cambodia, Chorn-Pond was forced with many other children to take up arms and be driven at threat of death into combat. Many of his friends died next to him. Finally he escaped into the jungle and lived for months following monkeys and eating what they ate. He crossed the Thai border and was adopted by Rev. Peter Pond who brought him to the U.S. with many other Cambodian orphans.
As Chorn-Pond got his education he co-founded Children of War to help young people overcome the on-going suffering from their war traumas, a challenge that was his own personally as well. Eventually over 100,000 students from over 400 schools participated in the programs of Children of War. He also returned to the refugee camps and worked on various diplomatic efforts for reconciliation.
Music helped him survive under the Khmer Rouge and helped him find his way back emotionally following the horrors he experienced. So he founded Cambodian Living Arts to restore Cambodian traditional performing art forms. He helped restore the few surviving art masters and link them to young people to learn the traditional skills, including music.
In this TEDx Talk Arn Chorn-Pond shares his story and plays songs from the traditional flute:
Here he sings a traditional Cambodian song, “This Song Will Bring Him Back”:
This children’s book, A Song for Cambodia by Michelle Lord, tells Chorn-Pond’s story and the role music has played in his survival, recovery, and bringing hope and healing to his country. Click here to order from amazon.
POV from Public Television produced “The Flute Player” documentary about Arn Chorn-Pond in 2008. Click here to purchase a copy of the DVD. Click here to view the 30-second trailer from POV.