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. He has received many international prizes, 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 Music Teacher National Association(USA) and, the Annapolis Charter 300 International Composers Competition Prize. In 2007, the Thai government named Prangcharoen a Contemporary National Artist and awarded him the Silapathorn Award, one of Thailand’s most prestigious honors. Recently, He has won the American Composers Orchestra Underwood New Music Commission and Audience Choice Award.
Prangcharoen’s music has been performed in Asia, America, Australia, and Europe by many renowned ensembles such as the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Pacific Symphony, the Grant Park Orchestra, the Nagoya Philharmonic Orchestra, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra, the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra, the Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Oregon Symphony Orchestra, the China Philharmonic Orchestra, the Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra, the German National Theater Orchestra, the Toledo Symphony Orchestra and the American Composers Orchestra under many well-known conductors, such Carl St. Clair, Carlos Kalmer, Jose-Luis Novo, Osmo Vänskä, and Mikhail Pletnev. His music has also been presented by, among others, The New York New Music Ensemble, the Imani Winds, saxophonist John Sampen, and pianist Bennett Lerner.
Prangcharoen’s music has been performed at many important music festivals, such as the Grant Park Music Festival, the Asia: the 21st Century Orchestra Project, the MoMA Music Festival, Maverick Concerts: “Music in the Wood”, Beijing Modern Music Festival, the Lincoln Center, and the Library of Congress.
Prangcharoen received his DMA from University of Missouri-Kansas City where he study with his primary teacher Chen Yi. In addition to working as a freelance composer, he is currently teaching at the Community Music and Dance Academy of the Conservatory of Music, University of Missouri in Kansas City. Prangcharoen is the founder of the Thailand International Composition Festival in Thailand, now in its eighth year.