Somtow Sucharitkul | |
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 Thai-American author, composer, conductor | |
| Born | Somtow Papinian Sucharitkul (1952-12-30)December 30, 1952 (age 72) Bangkok, Thailand |
| Pen name | S. P. Somtow |
| Genre | Science fiction,fantasy,horror;opera,musical theatre |
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| Website | |
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Somtow Papinian Sucharitkul (Thai:สมเถา สุจริตกุล;RTGS: Somthao Sucharitkun; born December 30, 1952), commonly known asS. P. Somtow, is a Thai-American musicalcomposer and conductor, and ascience fiction,fantasy, andhorror author writing in English as both Somtow Sucharitkul and S. P. Somtow. He has both Thai and American citizenship.[1][2]
He served as a musical consultant on theTodd Field filmTár.[3]
A descendant of the RoyalChakri dynasty (hisgrandfather's sister was a cousin and consort of KingVajiravudh),[citation needed] Somtow was born in Bangkok. He moved to England with his parents in 1953 at the age of six months. English was his first language.[4][5] Somtow was educated atEton College and atSt Catharine's College, Cambridge. He returned to Thailand in the early 1960s for a five-year period, during which he became fluent in the Thai language. At age 11, he wrote a poem called "Kith of Infinity", which was published in the English-languageBangkok Post.Shirley MacLaine saw it, and thinking that it was written by a dead poet, included it in her autobiography,Don't Fall Off the Mountain.[6] The poem contains the line "I am not a man", as Somtow was not yet an adult. It is thought that this prompted MacLaine to assume that the author was a woman.[5]
As a science fiction writer, Somtow is known for several series, among which are theMallworld,Inquestor, andAquila series, andThe Riverrun Trilogy. He first was published asSomtow Sucharitkul in the late 1970s inAsimov's andAnalog[7] science fiction magazines. He wrote several stories and novels under that name before changing to thepen name S. P. Somtow.
He wroteVampire Junction and a series of related novels and stories. He was president of theHorror Writers Association from 1998 to 2000. His other horror books include the werewolf-western novelMoon Dance, the zombie-American Civil War novelDarker Angels, and the collectionsTagging the Moon: Fairy Tales of L.A. andThe Pavilion of Frozen Women. In 1997, he wrote the juvenile vampire novel,The Vampire's Beautiful Daughter. He also wrote and directed thecult horror filmThe Laughing Dead, in which he starred alongside his friendTim Sullivan, and co-wrote theRoger Corman-producedBram Stoker's Burial of the Rats (1995).
Somtow's novelJasmine Nights, a semi-autobiographical novel set in Thailand in the 1960s, has become his best known fictional work. The historical fantasyThe Shattered Horse holds thatHector's sonAstyanax survives the fall ofTroy and grows to adulthood to meet many of the characters of theIliad.
He has also composed fivesymphonies and aballet,Kaki. Other musical compositions include the “Requiem: In Memoriam 9/11,” commissioned by the government of Thailand as a gift for the victims of the 9/11 events and inspired by the poetry ofWalt Whitman,Emily Dickinson, andT. S. Eliot.
In 2000, he composedMadana, the first orchestral Westernopera by a Thai composer and based on aThai language play byKing Rama VI.[8][failed verification] The opera was in English. His second opera on a Thai theme,Mae Naak, premiered in 2003 and a third opera,Ayodhya, was first performed in November 2006.[9][failed verification] His operaThe Silent Prince was premiered in Houston byOpera Vista on October 15, 2010. A fifth opera,Dan no Ura, received its premiere in August 2014 in Bangkok.
In 2012, hismusicalReya the Musical, based on a serialized novel by his mother which had already been made into a popular Thai TVsoap opera, premiered at the Aksra Theatre in Bangkok and ran for twenty performances. A hybrid work combining ballet with opera,Suriyothai, based on the life of a Thai queen of the Ayuthaya period, premiered on August 23, 2013. A second musical was in the works afterward, titledPob: The Musical, for December 2015 release.[needs update]
In the 2010s, he was also at work on two more operas, one an adaptation of his fantasy short story "The Fallen Country" and another about the life of Holocaust survivorHelena Citrónová. "The Snow Dragon", the adaptation of his fantasy story, was set to premiere March 13, 2015, at the Skylight Music Theatre in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, under the baton of Viswa Subbaraman.[needs update]
Somtow is artistic director ofOpera Siam. In 2006, Somtow Sucharitkul conducted the firstWagner opera inSoutheast Asia,Das Rheingold, as part of a five-year project to bring the entireRing Cycle to Southeast Asia by 2010.[10][failed verification] Various delays afflicted the project and it has yet to resume. He has conducted the Thailand premieres of many key repertoire operas such asThaïs,Otello, andThe Rape of Lucretia. He embarked on a venture to conduct all ofMahler's symphonies in Thailand, and the cycle was completed with No. 2 in 2015.
In the 1970s, Sucharitkul formed theTemple of Dawn Consort withDnu Huntrakul andBruce Gaston, an eclectic performing ensemble devoted to a fusion of Thai and Western music styles and instruments, performing music by these three composers. After his 1979 departure for the United States, the group evolved into other fusion ensembles, the most notable being Gaston'sFong Naam. On his return to Thailand, Somtow founded, in addition toBangkok Opera, theSiam Philharmonic Orchestra and theSiam Sinfonietta, a youth symphony orchestra. He also founded theOrpheus Choir of Bangkok, which travels all over Thailand and performs many of his pieces.
Somtow has written episodes of the animated television seriesDinosaucers,COPS, andChip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers.
WhenNobel Prize laureateWole Soyinka withdrew as keynote speaker at the 2006SEA Write Awards ceremony in protest of the2006 Thailand coup that ousted the elected government ofThaksin Shinawatra, Somtow, a critic of Thaksin, replaced Soyinka as keynote speaker. In his speech, Somtow berated Soyinka for boycotting the awards and claimed that in 50 years, he had never felt more free.[5] Soon afterward, Somtow's operaAyodhya was censored by state officials under the junta, who claimed that the on-stage death of the demon-king, Thotsakan, would constitute a "bad omen" for the military junta. Somtow agreed to modify the scene and was forced to sign a document giving officials the right to "immediately shut down the opera in mid-performance if, in their sole opinion, a breach of 'tradition' occurs".[11][failed verification][12]
Somtow has since been critical of all sides in the political disputes following the coup.[13] Although he was a critic of thepopulist government of Thaksin, Somtow stated in 2019: "The righteous indignation of Thaksin's opposition, however, went beyond the pale when they started to say that the poor shouldn't vote because they're too stupid." Somtow praised a speech byDemocrat Prime MinisterAbhisit Vejjajiva for being "so balanced, so reasonable, so intelligent, and so well thought through".[13]
As writer, Somtow won theJohn W. Campbell Award (Best New Writers) in 1981 for "Sunsteps",[14] theLocus Award (Best First Novel) in 1982 forStarship & Haiku; theInternational Horror Guild Award (Long Fiction) in 1996 forBrimstone and Salt; theWorld Fantasy Award (BestNovella) in 2002 forThe Bird Catcher, and has been nominated four other times;[15] theHOMer Award; theAmerican Horror Award; and several other awards. He has been nominated for twoHugos and fiveBram Stokers.
In 2008, he became one of the first recipients of the newly createdSilpathorn Kittikhun Award, awarded by Thailand'sMinistry of Culture, for his combined literary and theatrical work and it profile within Thailand and internationally. This award has been viewed as an alternative to the more "staid, traditional National Artist Awards".[16] In December 2011, Thai newspaperThe Nation selected him as one of the 40 most internationally acclaimed Thais.[17]
In the theatrical realm more specifically, Somtow was awarded the 2013 Golden W award by the International Wagner Society for ten years of service in presenting the music ofRichard Wagner in the region. In 2022, he won the Best Actor award at the first season ofCasablanca Film Factory Awards for his performance in the filmThe Maestro: A Symphony of Terror directed byPaul Spurrier.[18]
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