Arn Chorn Pond is founder of Cambodian Living Arts, a non-government organization devoted to catalyzing a vibrant Cambodian arts sector. In Arn’s harrowing story of surviving the Khmer Rouge regime, music plays a critical role. Now an internationally renowned human rights activist and peace advocate, music and culture remain core to his humanitarian and peace-building work. Arn has received the Anne Frank Memorial Award, the Kohl Foundation International Peace Prize, the Reebok Human Rights Award, and two honorary doctorates for peace and humanitarian service.
Like Khmer Magic Music Bus co-founder Thorn Seyma, Arn vehemently believes in the individual and societal value of cultural participation, the transformative potential of music, and the importance of sustainable cultural futures. “This is my quest,” he says: through music, “to have us dare to dream again, dare to hope.”
