LIFESTYLE | MUSIC
Tuning In Events featuring a lively mix of musical and artistic cultures hit all the right notes By JERRY PEERSON / YANGON
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The poet who goes by the name of Bonne Bon delights the audience at Open Mic Night at Nawaday Tharlar Art TheIrrawaddy Gallery.62
rtistic collaboration between locals and foreigners is alive and well in Yangon.
Recent events coordinated and sponsored by both foreign and national entities have introduced the community to high-caliber cultural entertainment, as well as a spirit of mutual appreciation for the arts and their respective backgrounds. As a musician myself, the seeming growth of such events in this city looks like a welcome opportunity to bring out talent teeming under the surface. During one weekend in June, I attended two events sponsored by the Myanmar Ministry of Culture, and the Myanmar Music Association, in collaboration with the embassy of Ireland in Hanoi, Vietnam. The events, at Chatrium Hotel and the more intimate Pansodan Scene, were designed as a cultural exchange between the musical traditions of Ireland and Myanmar. Mick Moloney, a respected Irish musician, New York University professor, and frequent visitor to Myanmar, was accompanied by three very talented young women, and shared the hall with several professional Myanmar musicians from the National University of Arts and Culture and the Myanmar Music Association. Mick explained that one of the first things he noticed when he arrived in Myanmar was that the two countries July 2014