Unplugged at Meta House

Try and visit the Meta House on Street 264 in Phnom Penh this Wednesday to catch up with a future Khmer star in the form of 10-year-old Bosba Panh (right), who will be performing 'unplugged' on the night from 7pm. A coloratura soprano, she's mature well beyond her age, sings in several languages, plays guitar and leads her own group, La Compagnie BosbaPanh. She comes from a talented family - she's the niece of the famous film director Rithy Panh - and has travelled widely, including a visit to Everest base camp! Already a regular face on Khmer television, she released her first cd - Phnom Penh - last year, an album of songs that recall the happier times of the 1960s including compositions from Norodom Sihanouk, and followed that up with a second release, SrorMay, last month. Her group are all teachers or students from the Royal University of Fine Arts, who play traditional songs in a contemporary style. Bosba was born in Thailand to a Laotian mother and a Cambodian father, Meng Heng Panh, who studied in France and worked as a journalist there during the Khmer Rouge period. You can listen to Bosba on her own website here. Amidst new exhibitions at Meta that seem to be happening every five minutes, the film evenings will continue this coming Saturday when the founder of Cambodian Livings Arts, Arn Chorn-Pond will be present to show the film The Flute Player by Jocelyn Glatzer, whilst The Killing Fields gets a run out on Sunday night. Link: Meta; Flute Player.