Bang on a Can

Kyaw Kyaw Naing is one of Burma's most distinguished younger musicians. The son of the great artist Sein Chit Tee, he was a child prodigy, winning first prize in a children's music competition at age seven. At 12 years of age he could already play the pat waing, the drum-chime circle that leads the traditional Burmese orchestra. In 1975 he joined the nation's premier traditional ensemble, Naingan-daw Hsaing Waing, and rapidly rose to prominence within it; from 1982 to 1992 he served as musical director of the ensemble. When he resigned from this troupe he started a long-term collaboration with Burma's senior musical eminence, U Ko Ko, and with him composed music for numerous operas and films (his compositions can be heard in over two hundred films and recordings). Kyaw Kyaw Naing's music is played by some of Burma's most prominent performers, and is routinely heard on the national media network, the Burma Broadcasting Service. His international touring has brought him to Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, the former Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the USA.