Aluna revives classical Lao opera songs

(KPL) Aluna Thavonesouk, the home grown singing starlet, was already making preparations to become a Lao classical opera diva.

Speaking to a KPL News reporter in the Tata Cafe, Vientiane, last week, she said her teacher was a musician of the military band here and he had studied music in China and Vietnam.

"At the end of the day, I would want to come back to my roots, the Lao culture," she said.

Touching on opera singing, she said it was part of her effort to respect her motherland, her Lao culture, express her Lao identity and gain respect from all and sundry.

She also said that though she found it difficult to be conversant in this style of singing, because the singer had to make sudden high and low sounds and to be able to cope with the fluctuations in the rhythm, but she added she was determined to put her all to master this basically Lao vocal art.

Responding to the question on love she argued that Lao women were lucky a lot because they had much more freedom than the women of many other countries.

Aluna asserted that when men and women enter into any kind of relationship, it was important for them to respect one another.

Referring to herself, she said, that even though she was 31 years old, she was still learning about love and that she treasured "love" as "love" was beautiful.

Then the journalist challenged her to talk about her love experiences, saying that he would candidly talk about his love for women in three continents and over a period of 50 years.

However, Aluna, said that matters concerning her love for men would remain a secret.

Regarding the question on her singing career, she said she started late, at age 24, compared to some singers who started when they were teenagers. During the decision making period many thoughts, she said, went through her mind.

She asked herself: "Aluna you were not that beautiful! You did not have those long legs that men loved to gawk at! Did you think you look like a Lao Neferetti!"

Then, she said, she found out that people challenged her and they said:"Would singing all those love songs take you anywhere Why did you want to be in the spotlight? Are you sure you have the talent to sing"

Aluna broke into a Lao song to elaborate what she was trying to tell the journalist and she translated the song into English.

"Tomorrow will always come and unforeseen things happen."

In other words, Aluna was trying to say that she went through a gut-wrenching period, but finally she took the plunge and decided to embark on a singing career.

Presently, Aluna was fighting within herself to find a balance between the two halves of her life, the commercial and artistic.

"While I wanted to sing and take its consequences and to face the challenges of such a vocation but I knew that in the end I would feel a deep urge to take the middle road, as I felt that it was Buddhism in me,"she said.

During her growing up years she attended the ordinary Lao school and at the age of 13 she studied English at Vientiane College during the evening.

Just before she was 17 years old, 1996, she passed the tough IELTS examination with flying colours, attaining the high score of 6.5, a rarity then and now.

The Aussie government gave her the AUSaid scholarship and she attended Deakin University, Melbourne.

She graduated in 2000 and came back to Laos to work.

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