KANCHANABURI, Thailand: Lam Duan, a 65-year-old, blind Thai elephant is enjoying her lunch, listening to Silent Night being played on a piano.
For eight years, pachyderms like Lam Duan — old, overworked and sometimes disabled — have been rehabilitated with music at Elephants World, a retirement sanctuary for the animals in the western Thai province of Kanchanaburi.
Almost 80 percent of about 3,000 elephants at tourist venues in Thailand, Cambodia, India, Laos, Nepal and Sri Lanka, endure poor living conditions and diets and are overworked, according to the animal welfare group World Animal Protection.
The animals at Elephants World get good food and treatment for their physical ailments, but the music is an extra, special treat they appear to love.
Several times a week, British classical pianist Paul Barton, 57, sets up a piano against a backdrop of forested slopes and plays for his four-legged friends.
“Maybe some of these blind elephants get a little bit of comfort from hearing pieces of soothing classical music occasionally,” says Barton, who studied at London’s Royal Academy of Arts.
Lam Duan approached Barton as he began to play and she appeared to calm down and focus on the music.
At another music session, several elephants seemed to move their heads and move about in front of the piano as the notes flowed.
The owner of the sanctuary, Samart Prasithpol, 44, said the music seemed to provide the elephants with some special comfort.
“We work here to rehabilitate the elephants physically,” Smart told Reuters.
“The use of music has been useful in rehabilitating their soul,” he said.
Classical piano soothes old elephants at Thai sanctuary
Classical piano soothes old elephants at Thai sanctuary
- At another music session, several elephants seemed to move their heads and move about in front of the piano as the notes flowed
Harry Styles announces 2026 global tour: See the dates
- e news arrives a week after Styles revealed his fourth studio album will arrive March 6. Titled “Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally”
NEW YORK: Harry Styles is getting back out on the road. The English musician announced his “Together, Together” tour on Thursday. It’s a 50-date run made up of residencies in Europe, the UK, Brazil, Mexico, the US and Australia.
Styles’ tour launches May 16 with six nights in Amsterdam, followed by six nights in London, two in São Paulo, two in Mexico City, 30 at New York City’s Madison Square Garden, two in Melbourne and two in Sydney, where it will conclude in December.
Openers include Robyn, Shania Twain, Jorja Smith, Jamie xx, Fousheé, and more.
There are a few pre-sale opportunities. The general sale for São Paulo begins Wednesday and the Mexico City sale begins Jan. 29.
The general sale for Amsterdam, London, Melbourne, Sydney, and many New York dates begins Jan. 30. The last New York dates, Oct. 10 to 31, will go on sale Feb. 4.
Styles is no stranger to residencies. During his “Love on Tour” in 2022, he did a 15-night stint at Madison Square Garden, which Ticketmaster labeled “the highest-grossing single engagement in the venue’s history.”
The “Together, Together” tour news arrives a week after Styles revealed his long-awaited, fourth studio album will arrive March 6.
Titled “Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally,” the album is Styles’ first full-length project in four years. It follows the 2022, critically acclaimed synth pop record “Harry’s House,” which earned the former One Direction star the top prize of album of the year at the 2023 Grammy Awards.
The cover for “Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally” features the 31-year-old artist in a T-shirt and jeans at night, standing underneath a shimmering disco ball hung outside.
