10-Year-Old Folk Singer Bridges Cultures

By Nuch Sarita,
VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
28 January 2008

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Bosba Panh, whose repertoire includes Bob Dylan as well as traditional Khmer music, recently packed a concert hall in Phnom Penh. Chaktomuk Hall’s capacity is 570 seats, but Bosba Panh brought in 700 people.

Her music is increasingly gaining attention, as she strums a guitar and sings in cafes and halls for Westerners and Cambodians alike.

Bosba Panh, 10, whose father is Khmer and mother is Lao, put out the album “Phnom Penh” in 2006 and established her own music company, La Compagnie Bosbapanh, when she was 8 years old.

“Bosba confirms her talent as a classical singer in exploring the cultural richness of her country and in making famous international songs her own,” said Muoy You, director of Seametrey Children’s Village, a school, who attended the performance at Chaktomuk Hall. “She sang of the beauty of Cambodia, love and peace, liberty and freedom.”