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Heang Pen with two of his instruments, Cambodian musical instrument maker and musician, 2000
Heang Meas Pen
Chicopee, Massachusetts
Photography by Jessica Payne
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Heang Pen's son, Hem Pen, speaks proudly of his father's accomplishments: "The music that he plays deals with our cultural traditions. It is music that has been carried on from one generation to another for hundreds of years and that you don't try to change. People all over Cambodia used this music for special occasions like weddings, funerals, and New Year celebrations. He has played this music for temples and community celebrations. People all over western Mass. have gathered at the temple in Pelham, Mass. to celebrate New Years and many other occasions as one community. They consider my father to be one of the leaders because he knows what to do for each celebration. He has used all of his abilities to help and teach the young generations to follow our cultural traditions. I hope that someday I will have a chance to learn everything from him".
Heang Pen, a Cambodian instrument maker and musican, was suddenly uprooted from his homeland and culture after fleeing from the Khmer Rouge, a brutal communist regime that was responsible for one of the worst genocides of the 20th century. In the early 1980s, Heang was one of many Cambodians to travel to the United States as part of a resettlement program in Amherst, MA. He now lives in Chicopee, MA, and is a revered elder and active member within the Cambodian community of the Northeast. In 2001, Heang was the recipient of a Massachusetts Cultural Council Traditional Artist Grant.
Heang's upbringing was very closely linked with the ceremonial life of the temple. Although his father died before Heang was an adult, his legacy as a temple elder and a musician lived on through his family. Following in his father's footsteps, Heang's older brother Hong performed for weddings, religious rites, and temple rituals. As a young man, Heang moved away from his family to Phnom Penh, where he worked as an apprentice for an instrument maker of mixed Cambodian and Chinese descent. Under the instrument maker's tutelage, Heang learned how to build several of the instruments used in traditional Cambodian ensemble music, including the tro so (a two-stringed fiddle), the khim (dulcimer), and the skor day (hand drum). Two years later, Heang returned to the village where his family was then living and laboring as farmers. By then, he had developed a deep interest in learning to play the instruments he had built; and so, he began to observe his brother Hong play. After much practice, Heang eventually performed alongside his brother during weddings and other community and temple ceremonies. He now plays the khim, tro, skor day, and the mandolin. His principle tools for making the kim and the tro are chisels, hammer, metal files, and a drill.
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