Me & Myanmar (2015-2021)

A Short Review

Taiwanese pianist Ying-Hua Huang joyfully collaborates with a wide range of musicians in various genres. 

Ying-Hua recently returned to Taiwan from Myanmar, where she had lived and worked from 2015 to 2021.

2015-16
Venturing to Myanmar
Ying-Hua landed in Myanmar in 2015, having just completed her studies. Acclimatizing to her new environment, she started teaching and helping local Western music schools and institutes. In August 2016, she gave a master class and concert at Kachin Theological College and Seminary and a lecture-recital at the Myanmar Institute of Theology (MIT). A visiting lectureship at MIT for a semester followed and, in this period, Ying-Hua laid the groundwork for a music festival with a competition for the coming year.

2017
Scenery at the Rose Garden Hotel
Decades of authoritarian isolationism had left Myanmar with an impoverished environment for learning, much less excelling at, Western music. A breakthrough appeared with the support of Alexander Scheible. As the general manager of the Rose Garden Hotel in Yangon, he provided Ying-Hua with a venue for annual teacher-student recitals and themed piano salon series, featuring not only private students, but also musicians from around the world. At the same time, Ying-Hua and Ms. Gisela Pinto Zincone, a Brazilian jazz pianist-singer-composer-performer, formed a vital collaboration. Soon, a vibrant scene took root and thrived with the two musicians drawing on their repertoires. 

Events at the Rose Garden Hotel became established at two or three times a year, each garnering prominent print and online media coverage. The Third Piano Salon in March 2017, for example, featured in the Lifestyle edition of the local news publication, The Irrawaddy. The 6th International Salon, in March 2018, featured in the Myanmore magazine and Wherevent website. 

Teaching
Talented students and like-minded people began to gather around. Five of Ying-Hua’s students passed the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music Grade 8 piano exams. Of these five, four are Myanmar students and the fifth Singaporean. Two of these Myanmar students gained full scholarships to study at music departments in abroad. 

Ying-Hua remains deeply affected by her Myanmar students’ tenacity and dedication. On a daily basis they faced scarce resources, inadequate facilities, poor quality Internet access, and weak social institutions. Their resilience convinces Ying-Hua that her Myanmar students are destined to become outstanding teachers and musicians, regardless of what the future holds for their country.

Maximization – Myanmar Musician League
All efforts morphed into an even more significant musical event in July 2017. With the enthusiastic involvement of her students, friends, and music lovers, Ying-Hua founded the Myanmar Musician League (MML, formerly the Philharmonic Society of Myanmar) and started a non-profit annual music festival and competition in response to public demand. As well as founder, Ying-Hua was the executive director, artistic director, organizer, a performer, and general helper from the start.

The festivals enriched Yangon’s musical scene and they became a valuable platform for cultural exchanges. The festival programs included masterclasses, workshops, chamber music coaching, a festival competition, a student presentation, and a free-of-charge themed closing concert, all within seven to ten days in June or July. Vitally, the festivals motivated aspiring young musicians by creating a showcase for their talent and hard work while broadening their horizons and deepening their collaboration with international musicians. The festivals also aided students in securing study places abroad.

Juggling Hither and Yon
While juggling a busy range of activities in Myanmar, Ying-Hua took on various international commitments. Two or three times a year, she ventured abroad for performances. In March 2016, Ying-Hua premiered a piece by Xing-Ci Qiu, a young Taiwanese composer, at Taiwan’s National Concert Hall. In August 2016, she performed in a five-day contemporary series concert at Shanghai Concert Hall and, in October, in the “Contemporary Music Series III – Minimalism” at the Taipei Philharmonic Orchestra. In April 2017, she performed at the Taiwan International Music Festival. She occasionally lectured in Taiwan on the situation in Myanmar. Ying-Hua also assisted Taiwanese musical bands and groups in their arrangements and performances in Yangon.

2018-2019
Putting Down Roots & Expanding
Meanwhile, in Myanmar invitations to perform began to arrive. Ying-Hua participated in charitable musical events alongside her students and traditional musicians. These performances included the “Music and Memory – a Black Tie Charity Event 2018” for the Daw Khin Kyi Foundation, at the Sedona Hotel in October 2018, and the “Huang Ping Yuan Chit Myit Tar Charity Concert” in November 2019. Other gigs included the “Moon Cake Tasting and Appreciation Dinner” at the Sedona Hotel in July 2018, and the “Taiwanese Double 10th Festival” hosted by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in October 2018. 

In August 2019, Ying-Hua participated in “Poetry of Brush and Lines” at the invitation of Mr. Pyay Way, owner of Yangon’s Nawaday Tharlar Gallery. The event, supported by TECO, was a collaboration with Myanmar poets involving some semi-improvised piano accompaniment at their recitals. In October 2019, Ying-Hua performed in the “Traveling to Myanmar” concert with Japanese flutist Prof. Hiroshi Matsushima at The Goethe Institute. To raise awareness of Myanmar, Ying-Hua became an occasional contributor on Myanmar issues for The News Lens, a Taiwanese online news outlet.

Before Nightfall
Ying-Hua’s work in Myanmar culminated in the 3rd Edition of the MML Festival and Competition in July 2019. Nine international musicians – from Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the USA – and over 200 students from around Myanmar joined local artists for a week of intense activities in Yangon. Myanmar International TV, Myanmar’s only English TV channel, documented the event and aired it for two months with their partnered channels.  

The Spotlight Taiwan Music Festival followed MML’s 3rd Festival and Competition. MML invited a multitude of Taiwanese performers to this TECO supported event. The program included the Taipei Friendship City Choir, 501 String Orchestra, singer Una Ho, and pianist Prof. Yi-Yang Chen, all under the leadership of Prof. Jocelyn Wu, producer of the Friendly Taipei City Development Association. In addition to Prof. Chen’s piano masterclass, the final concert, “Resounding Taiwan,” was presented in three parts. Myanmar traditional musicians and artists joined Taiwanese musicians for “The Pattern of the Totem,” “Resounding the Impression,” and “Fusion and Innovation.” This multicultural collaboration inspired the performers as they showcased historical and present-day facets of Taiwan. 

2020-2021
Perdendosi
The Covid-19 pandemic hit the world in 2020. In March, at the invitation of Ms. Gisela Pinto Zincone, Ying-Hua performed in the “Brazilian Night” concert at the Brazilian ambassador’s residence. However, the music scene quieted down under restrictions and lockdowns. Only a few small private and online events survived until another, even more impactful, event brought everything to a close.

Ying-Hua diverse journey in Myanmar ended in April 2021, two months after the February coup d’état. 

As a musician, Ying-Hua believes music should be close to people, and no matter where, the essentials are teaching, organizing, and performing, even in the face of challenges. However, what seems normal in Taiwan and most other countries may prove impossible in present-day Myanmar.

Many have struggled with the question “Why music in a time of war?” But who can venture an answer if the state bans musicians from performing freely or even considers them subversive? During WWI and WWII, musicians risked their lives defying authoritarianism by composing pieces implying freedom.

Attacca
Ying-Hua lived in Myanmar during its transient democratic window. In her six years residency, she embarked on a colorful spectrum of endeavors, nurturing eight themed piano salons and teacher-student recitals and three annual MML music festivals and competitions, plus diverse other activities. Starting with just a suitcase, great good fortune, and a restless desire to collaborate, organize and perform, Ying-Hua encountered people who reshaped her thoughts on music and widened her views. Her students, who span the ages and come from diverse backgrounds and continents, ensure Ying-Hua is not just a teacher, but a constant student.

In her six years in Myanmar, Ying-Hua consistently faced one question: “Why would you come and settle in Myanmar?” The most elucidated form of this question was: “You’re Asian, Taiwanese; why would you come here and promote Western music?” This questioning from unfamiliar perspectives, caused Ying-Hua to re-evaluate Taiwan’s musical evolution and present state. The experience of participating in Myanmar’s days of fleeting freedom has, for Ying-Hua, cast a new light on how western classical music took root in Taiwan decades ago and put into sharp relief the question: where is it going?

2022-2023
Back in Taiwan, Ying-Hua organized and performed in the 8th and 9th story-telling piano salons titled “Wars are Everywhere Series I – Chopin: Identity in Exile” and “Wars are Everywhere Series II – The Triangulation of Poland, Ukraine, and Russia” in September and December 2022.

With gratitude, she has been teaching students in Taiwan while also offering online piano courses to students worldwide.
Ying-Hua will keep on the musical path no matter where she lands. 

Adrain Higgs, Editor