Sherina Han-Khampraseuth

San Joaquin Valley Fresno County Asian/Asian-American/Pacific Islander Music Lao

Sherina Han-Khampraseuth of Fresno, is a first-generation Laotian-American and a master performer in Laotian lanard (or lanat), a suspended, wooden xylophone, originally played for royals in the Lao parliament. It is one of the core instruments of the traditional Lao orchestra and is used to play songs that tell ancient folktales in its lyrics and dance. 

Sherina learned to play the lanard from an elder named Loung Bountan, who performed for the king of Laos prior to his new life in America. He taught Sherina and her sister as young girls how to play lanard at the Fresno community center, Stone Soup, in the late 1990s, before they began performing in front of their community. Sherina’s practice is important to the Lao community as the traditional music has allowed for performers to dance and tell ancient Lao folktales through. Sherina is now interested in passing the instrument on to a new generation of Laotian-Americans in the Central Valley.

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Apprenticeship Program

2020

Laotian lanard
with apprentice Jacob Norasene Van

Sherina Han-Khampraseuth will be mentoring Jacob Norasene Van in Laotian lanard or (lanat), a suspended, wooden xylophone used in Lao traditional music. Jacob will learn at new songs on lanard, including the national song of Laos, Dok Champha, and will perform at Lao New Year in Fresno. He will also be trained to learn how to play the lanard with no strings and learn new songs by ear by the end of the apprenticeship.