Piyawat Louilarpprasert
Composer · Interdisciplinary Artist · Curator
"Young and gifted, meet the rebel Thai composer taking music to unheard heights."
CNN, Karla Cripps
Originally from Bangkok, Piyawat Louilarpprasert is a Thai composer, multimedia performer, and curator whose work explores the vivid intersection of musical composition, visual art, and sound technology. Currently serving as the Dean of the College of Music at Mahidol University, Piyawat earned his Doctorate in Composition and Sound Studies from Cornell University, alongside an M.M. from the Royal College of Music in London, having studied under Dai Fujikura, Gilbert Nouno, and Marianthi Papalexandri-Alexandri.
His music delves into the amalgamation of sonic and visual arts, deconstructing the mechanics and physicality of instruments while seamlessly weaving traditional Thai musical elements — such as the Ranad and Jakhe — into contemporary frameworks. His mentor Marianthi Papalexandri-Alexandri has described his compositions as reflecting a post-humanist approach to sound production, one in which performer, instrument, and object become equal agents in the creation of new musical realities — a description borne out across his catalogue, from unconventional technologies like no-input mixers and "Dino-bones" to acoustic instruments repositioned as active collaborators rather than passive vehicles for sound.
Piyawat's influence extends far beyond the traditional composer role; he is a driving force in Southeast Asia's contemporary arts ecosystem. He is the Founding Artistic Director of the IntAct Festival and the Thailand New Music and Arts Symposium, presenting groundbreaking interdisciplinary works to thousands of attendees annually. He is also the founder and champion of the Tacet(i) Ensemble, which has positioned Thailand as a regional hub for contemporary excellence by advocating for over 50 new works each year.
His visionary approach to curation and composition has earned him some of the most prestigious accolades in contemporary music, including the Ernst von Siemens Ensemble Prize (awarded with the Tacet(i) Ensemble), a Fromm Foundation Commission from Harvard University, and an Ernst von Siemens Musikstiftung Commission. He has also been recognized with the British Council Grant Prize and prominent residencies, including the SWR Experimental Studio in Freiburg and the KulturKontakt Residency by the Austrian Federal Chancellery.
Piyawat's interdisciplinary works have been performed across more than 30 countries and featured at premier international venues, including the Donaueschinger Musiktage and Münchener Biennale in Germany, Musica nova Helsinki in Finland, the International Computer Music Conference in Shenzhen, and, closer to home, the IntAct Festival and the Thailand New Music and Arts Symposium — platforms he himself helped establish as centers for contemporary practice in Southeast Asia. It was CNN News Worlds' Karla Cripps who called him "the rebel Thai composer taking music to unheard heights," a description that reflects both the international reach of his work and his role as one of the region's most consequential curatorial and compositional voices.
Selected Works
Paleo-Acoustica (2023) — Double concerto for Dino-bone, No-input Mixer, and orchestra.
Kraden (2022) — For Ranad, Jakhe, and laptop
Burning Symphony (2020) — Multimedia film project
Ohm-Na-Mo (2021) — Commissioned by Donaueschinger Musiktage for its 100th anniversary
Smelly Tubes (2019) — Featured globally on CNN
Pixels (2018–2019) — For saxophone and orchestra
Collaborators & Ensembles
Piyawat Louilarpprasert's collaborative practice operates at the intersection of cultural advocacy and radical sonic exploration, bridging distinct musical ecosystems rather than simply fulfilling international commissions. Central to this practice is his enduring, deeply personal relationship with the Tacet(i) Ensemble, which he founded as a dedicated laboratory for Southeast Asian contemporary music and interdisciplinary performance. This same commitment to pushing the physical, mechanical, and cultural boundaries of performance defines his work with some of the world's most formidable contemporary interpreters, including the Arditti Quartet, Klangforum Wien, Alarm Will Sound, and the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE). At an even larger scale, his partnerships with major symphonic and chamber institutions, including the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, the American Composers Orchestra, the Münchener Kammerorchester, and the Berlin Philharmonic Horn Section, reveal a composer who demands the same conceptual daring and post-humanist energy from established orchestral forces as he does from the avant-garde underground.
Serving as the youngest member of the jury, Piyawat Louilarpprasert brings a remarkably dynamic and forward-thinking perspective to Phantomnesis—Cambiata Arts' international call for contemporary music, experimental composition, and heritage-rooted music. This initiative seeks works that explore the forgotten, the near-forgotten, and the reimagined, calling for pieces that bring neglected musical systems, regional practices, extinct gestures, or overlooked aesthetic pathways into today's listening. Piyawat’s own mastery of fusing traditional Southeast Asian heritage with cutting-edge electroacoustic practices makes his insight invaluable to recognizing and elevating these reimagined sonic worlds.