Ravivadhana Monipong Sisowath
HH Prince Sisowath Ravivaddhana Monipong (15 Feb. 1970, Phnom Penh) is a researcher in history and culture of Southeast Asia, an author of books and articles on the social and traditional structure of the Cambodian society and the genealogy of the Khmer Royal Family, an artistic consultant for music productions, and, since May 2016, an Ambassador of the Royal Household of Cambodia with rank of Under-Secretary of State.
The grandson of former Prime Minister of Cambodia (1950−1951) Sisowath Monipong ស៊ីសុវត្ថិ មុនីពង្ស (1912−1956) [second son of King of Cambodia Sisowath Monivong and Princess Norodom Kanviman Norleak Tevi] and Neak Moneang Andrée Lambert, the son of Prince and Cambodian Air Force Lt Colonel HH Sisowath Samyl Monipong (1941−2020) and HH Princess Norodom Daravadey, he grew up in France, graduating in Bristish contemporary literature, and settled in Rome, Italy, in 1997.
After a career as a junior salesman in multinational group (IBM & ACCOR), “Prince Ravi” has collaborated as an associate expert and a consultant for many years with the United Nations (WFP, FAO, IFAD), and was in charge in the late 1980s and early 1990s of Public Relations of the “Ballet Classique Khmer”, a direct emanation of the Royal Ballet of Cambodia in France, at that time participating as as a dancer and a conductor to many galas in favour of the Cambodian refugees in Europe.
In the meantime, he studied the traditional “Pinpeat” and “Mahori” musical and singing forms under the direction of the Cambodian Royal Palace Masters who survived the civil war as well as Western Classical singing at the Conservatoire of Paris. Since 2010, he has been Artistic Consultant for Maestro Vincenzo Grisostomi Travaglini and had participated in staging many operas, mainly in Turkey and Italy such as Tosca, La Bohème, Lucia di Lammermoor, Madame Butterfly, Aida, Carmen, Turandot as well as various classical music and opera performances and concerts in Europe and Asia. An artistic consultant for “Cavalleria rusticana” of Pietro Mascagni in 2018 and “Pagliacci” of Ruggero Leoncavallo in 2019 in Phnom Penh, and a member of the Cambodia Opera Project, Prince Ravi was instrumental in Donizetti’s “Madama Butterfly” remarkable production on December 10 2023 in Phnom Penh.
