The Myoma Amateur Music Association (), commonly known as the Myoma troupe or Myoma band, is a traditional

Burmese music The music of Myanmar (or Burma) ( my, မြန်မာ့ဂီတ) shares many similarities with other musical styles in the region. Traditional music is melodic, having its own unique form of harmony, often composed with a (''na-yi-se''), ...

band. Established in 1925 in

Mandalay Mandalay ( or ; ) is the second-largest city in Myanmar, after Yangon. Located on the east bank of the Irrawaddy River, 631km (392 miles) (Road Distance) north of Yangon, the city has a population of 1,225,553 (2014 census). Mandalay was fo ...

, it is the longest surviving band in the country.

History

Myoma was established in 1925 by amateur musicians - Myoma Nyein, Gyi Ohn, Gyi Ngwe, Thant, Hla Din, and Mya Thein - in Mandalay, British Burma (now Myanmar). In 1928, a Chinese pawn shop owner donated money, enabling the band to expand its repertoire to a variety of wind instruments. The band's composer and leader, Myoma Nyein, became one of the country's most distinguished musicians. Throughout the years, the band briefly changed its name to others such as Naypyidaw, but ultimately reverted to its original name, Myoma. From 1927 until 1978, Myoma was a fixture in Mandalay's

Thingyan Thingyan (, ; Arakanese: ; from Sanskrit '' saṁkrānti,'' which means "transit f the Sun from Pisces to Aries) is the Burmese New Year Festival that usually occurs in middle of April. Thingyan is the first ever water festival celebrated in ...

(traditional new year) celebrations, parading the city and performing live atop a parade float featuring a silver swan. The tradition was resumed in 1996. Over the years, notable actors and singers like Win Oo performed with Myoma. The band also entertained foreign delegations, including

Zhou Enlai Zhou Enlai (; 5 March 1898 – 8 January 1976) was a Chinese statesman and military officer who served as the first Premier of the People's Republic of China, premier of the People's Republic of China from 1 October 1949 until his death on 8 J ...

and Chen Yi, who visited Burma in the 1960s. In the aftermath of the

2021 Myanmar coup d'état A coup d'état in Myanmar began on the morning of 1 February 2021, when democratically elected members of the country's ruling party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), were deposed by the Tatmadaw—Myanmar's military—which then veste ...

, the band courted controversy for performing at the opening ceremony of Yadanabon Hall in Mandalay, an event that headlined

Min Aung Hlaing Min Aung Hlaing ( my, မင်းအောင်လှိုင် abbreviated: MAL ; born 3 July 1956) also known as Alaungsithu is a Burmese politician and army general who has ruled Myanmar as the chairman of the State Administration Coun ...

, the coup leader.The opening ceremony of Yadanabon Hall event was reportedly organized by executives who have close ties to the military regime. Most of those who performed were graduates of Mandalay University of Arts and Culture with only a few home-grown musicians of Myoma participating in the event. Following the performance, one of the main singers of the band, Aung Kyaw Hein, wrote on his Facebook that he had resigned from Myoma.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Myoma Amateur Music Association Mandalay Musical groups established in the 1920s Burmese musical groups 1925 establishments in Burma