The music of Thai composer NARONG PRANGCHAROEN has been called "absolutely captivating" (Chicago Sun Times). Prangcharoen has established an international reputation and is recognized as one of Thailand's leading composers. Prangcharoen has received international recognition through honors including the Alexander Zemlinsky International Composition Competition Prize, the 18th ACL Yoshiro Irino Memorial Composition Award, the Pacific Symphony's American Composers Competition Prize, the Toru Takemitsu Composition Award, the Annapolis Charter 300 International Composers Competition Prize, the Barlow Prize, and a Guggenheim Fellowship. In 2007, the Thai government named Prangcharoen a Contemporary National Artist and awarded him the Silapathorn Award, one of Thailand's most prestigious honors.
Prangcharoen's music has been performed in Asia, America, Australia, and Europe by many renowned ensembles such as the American Composers Orchestra, Annapolis Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic, China Philharmonic Orchestra, China NCPA Orchestra, German National Theater Orchestra, Grant Park Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Nagoya Philharmonic Orchestra, Oregon Symphony Orchestra, Pacific Symphony, Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra, Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra, Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Toledo Symphony Orchestra, under well-known conductors such Carl St. Clair, Carlos Kalmer, Jose-Luis Novo, and Mikhail Pletnev. His music has also been presented by The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Ensemble TIMF, The New York New Music Ensemble, Imani Winds, and pianist Bennett Lerner, among others. Prangcharoen's works have been performed at major festivals such as the Grant Park Music Festival (Millennium Park, IL, USA), the 21st Century Orchestra Project (Nagoya, Japan), the MoMA Music Festival (Museum of Modern Art, NY, USA), Maverick Concerts (Woodstock, NY, USA), and at venues such as Carnegie Hall (NY, USA) and the Library of Congress (Washington DC).
Mr. Prangcharoen's earliest composition studies were with Dr. Narongrit Dharmabutra in Thailand. He later studied with Drs. Stephen Taylor and David Feurzeig at Illinois State University. Prangcharoen went on to study at the University of Missouri in Kansas City, where his teachers included Drs. Chen Yi (Prangcharoen's primary teacher), Zhou Long, James Mobberley, and Paul Rudy.
Prangcharoen has taught in the Western Music Department of Srinakharinwirot University, Bangkok, Thailand, and was an Instructional Assistant Professor of Music in Composition at Illinois State University. In addition to working as a freelance composer, he has taught at the Community Music and Dance Academy of the Conservatory of Music, University of Missouri in Kansas City, and is currently serving as Dean of the Mahidol University College of Music. Prangcharoen is a Composer-In-Residence of the Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra, founder and Artistic Director of the Thailand International Composition Festival, an Artistic Advisor of the Asia/America New Music Institute, and a Vice President of China-ASEAN Musicians Union.
Absence of Time