Khene

[3] The khene music is an integral part of Lao life that promotes family and social cohesion[4] and it was inscribed in 2017 on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Composers who have written notated music for the instrument include Annea Lockwood, Christopher Adler, David Loeb, and Vera Ivanova.

The khene comes in several varieties: In the United States, the top master khaen artist is a blind Laotian-born player, Bounseung Synanonh.

In 2007, he performed at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, D.C.[9] In Thailand, one of the top virtuoso khaen soloists is the blind musician Sombat Simla.

The instrument has also attracted a few non-Asian performers, including University of San Diego professor Christopher Adler, who also composes for the instrument; English musician Clive Bell (UK); Vancouver-based composer/performer Randy Raine-Reusch (Canada), who played khaen on Aerosmith's Pump (1989), Cranberries' To the Faithful Departed (1996), and Yes's The Ladder (1999); and Jaron Lanier (United States).