Grandmas’ Graces project is motivated by a desire to understand my own familial roots, particularly the differing experiences of my grandmothers, Kee and Chujai. It is as well inspired from the objectives to craft, compose, create, design, and produce sounds and engaging musical pieces with a quality, to be able to connect and express different aspects, themes, and emotions.

 

My grandparents on both sides of my family migrated from China. Their story parallels that of many families who migrated to Thailand between the world wars. This composition project is based on a research of the Sino Thai adaptations conducted through interviews and the study of socio-historical sources.

 

A series of themes were extracted from these sources. These include the following: past Chinese/Sino-Thai cultures dealing with misogyny and women's roles, education and political-cultural pressures to abandon their Chinese roots, life in a special water situation in the city of three waters, and navigation through losses of loved ones. 

 

The research materials were supplemented through the collecting of archival materials, field recordings, and studio samples. All of those materials were combined to form a structured suite adapting and illustrating the facts and anecdotes to create an emotional suite of sound pieces each illustrating different themes.

 

This suite of sound compositions combines the evocative power of sound with the format of an audio documentary, aiming  to  provide a listening space through which the listener can reflect on this complex 20th century narrative through the personal histories of two of my family members.