International Community Engagement Program 2025 – Cambodia

Music Sharing’s International Community Engagement Program (ICEP) took place in Cambodia over a period of 11 days in December 2025. The ICEP quartet, including violinists Midori and Haerim Oh, violist Andy Park and cellist Annette Jakovcic, reached over 1000 people in and around Phnom Penh and Siem Reap in partnership with 18 local organizations.

The ICEP ensemble had rehearsed throughout the autumn months and reunited in Phnom Penh a few days prior to the ICEP itself. Their repertoire included selections from Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5, Saint-Saëns’ Carnival of the Animals and Haydn’s “Lark” Quartet.

The quartet visited schools, hospitals, institutions and rural homes engaging with and performing for students, teachers, staff, family members and volunteers. Many of the organizations work with vulnerable and disabled people, trying to prevent human trafficking and exploitation, supporting victims and promoting youth development and education. Each visit was geared to the particular setting.

ICEP had visited Cambodia previously, in 2010, and Midori was able to reconnect on this occasion with a number of organizations visited 15 years previously. She was deeply moved to encounter some of the children from 2010, now grown up, and some staff she had met on her earlier visit who attended the latest presentations.

Midori was overwhelmed with emotion on her return to Cambodia. It was actually her third visit, the second was in 2019 just before the Covid pandemic. She found the country had developed dramatically in many ways but many vulnerable populations remained.

After her ICEP experience, cellist Annette Jakovcic reflected that “one of the most touching moments occurred near Siem Reap, where we performed for families in their remote homes. We played outdoors beneath stilt houses. I sat on a wooden stump to play my cello while the families gathered on tarps.  I could feel that every note was met with genuine appreciation…. In the pursuit of technical perfection musicians often succumb to the fear of judgment. This (ICEP) experience reminded me that the true essence of performance is storytelling and the shared joy of music.”