A Late Valentine: Romantic Strings by OM & Friends

Chinnawat Themkumkwun, is a world-class Thai classical guitarist who has been named one of the most awarded classical guitarists in the world, with over a hundred awards in Asia, Europe, and the United States, such as the Taiwan International Guitar Competition, Koblenz International Guitar Competition, JoAnn Falletta International Guitar Concerto Competition, Boston International Guitar Competition. One of the most important awards is the 66th Tokyo International Guitar Competition 2023 in Tokyo, Japan, which is the oldest classical guitar competition in the world in history and one of the largest in the world.

“Immortal Siamese Classical Guitarist”, an appreciation by Associate Professor Dr. Sugree Charoensook, founder of the College of Music, Mahidol University. “Immortality of Siam, Siamese people are important.” In other words, a Thai classical guitarist can go anywhere. In addition, Chinnawat is an expert at playing traditional Thai music on the classical guitar. He usually performs with the Thai Symphony Orchestra as a soloist.

Chinnawat studied music seriously from high school until he earned his bachelor’s degree from the College of Music, Mahidol University. He also had the opportunity to be awarded a scholarship to study at the master’s degree level and an advanced artist certificate from Mozarteum University in Salzburg, Austria. Throughout his life as a classical guitarist, Chinnawat has had the opportunity to be invited to perform concerts in many countries around the world, both as a soloist and with an orchestra. Most importantly, in 2023, Chinnawat passed the selection competition to be honored to perform at Carnegie Hall in New York City, USA, where it is considered the most prestigious concert hall in the world that every artist dreams of. Chinnawat has signed a contract with the Hannabach classical guitar string company from Germany as the winner of the Hannabach Prize for Guitarist 2021 classical guitar competition in Augsburg, Germany. He is considered the first Thai classical guitarist to be honored as an official artist of this world-class classical guitar brand that was founded in 1869.

Currently, Chinnawat has turned to be a classical guitar trainer for children and young people who are determined, focused, and have aspirations to become world-class classical guitarists with the teaching philosophy of “Learning music happily can make you good at it”. He uses his lifelong experience to devote himself to teaching every student with all his heart while creating happiness for friends and fans as a “classical guitar artist”.