Catch Kyaw Kyaw Naing’s acclaimed Burmese ensemble, March 9 on Listen Forward

Internationally-acclaimed Burmese drummer Kyaw Kyaw Naing and his ensemble of SUNY New Paltz faculty and alumni will release a set of new video performances on the Listen Forward YouTube channel on Tuesday, March 9, at 7 p.m..

The event, presented in the context of the recent military coup and mass demonstrations in Myanmar, celebrates that nation’s music and culture as interpreted by Kyaw Kyaw Naing, one of the greatest Burmese artists of his generation.

Performances will include a new version of “Growing Rhythm,” an original composition expanded here for a fuller Burmese orchestra. The work was recorded in Studley Theatre in summer 2020 and will be featured on a new album coming later this year from New Focus Records.

The evening will also include a presentation of the full-length ethnographic documentary “Growing Rhythm,” created by alumna  Alyson Hummer ’20 and Associate Professor of Anthropology Lauren Meeker, as well as a video performance of “Oh Nya Ni Lin” for solo piano, set to images from Yangon Myanmar, performed by Associate Professor Alex Peh.

Peh traveled to Myanmar in the winter of 2020, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, as an Asian Cultural Council fellow to study piano with the Burmese artist U Yee New, who composed “Oh Nya Ni Lin.” The music video of this work integrates footage taken by Hummer, who accompanied Peh undergraduate research grantee.

“This show celebrates the music and culture of a country emerging from years of isolation, now convulsed by fear as a result of the recent military coup, and looks back at a time when the political landscape of Myanmar was more hopeful,” said Peh. “The work ‘Oh Nya Ni Lin’ is an ancient lullaby but often played in funerals. I would like to dedicate this performance to my teachers, Kyaw Kyaw Naing, and Dr. U Yee Nwe, and to the hope for peace and a just outcome for the people of Myanmar.”

The watch party takes place at 7 p.m. Tuesday on Listen Forward, an interdisciplinary online video series launched in September 2020 to showcase the recorded works of SUNY New Paltz students and faculty during the COVID-19 pandemic. Read more here about Listen Forward.