News
Where the Next Songs Begin
July 13–August 2, 2026 · Program Updates
Myanmar Music Festival’s tenth season brought together performance, original songwriting, and a growing network of young musicians and local trainers.
Myanmar Music Festival (MMF) marked its tenth season from July 13 to August 2, 2026, returning to the National Theatre in Yangon for its first full-scale concert there since 2019. Alongside the Celebration Concert, choir members and young musicians took part in performances and outreach activities in Yangon, Mandalay, and Bagan.
Preparations began well before the festival. Through Myanmar Infinity, the year-round educational initiative launched in early 2025, MMF members trained to lead creativity workshops, visited schools and community organisations, and helped young people establish music clubs. Songs developed through that work became part of the season’s performances.
Original songs at the National Theatre
The August 2 concert brought together the MMF Choir, student music clubs, and guest artists. The choir comprises young professionals from both music and non-music backgrounds. Its programme included songs composed during the 2025 creativity training, first produced as music videos and later arranged for choral performance.
The Myanmar Infinity clubs of MISY, Bamboo Delight, and Aung Zayar Min Monastic School also presented their original songs. Bamboo Delight’s club had 20 members, while the monastic school’s club had 46. Their appearance at the Celebration Concert followed months of songwriting, leadership training, and rehearsal.
The programme also featured Scary Cats, a band led by MMF lead trainer Moe Thet Khin, performing her original compositions.
MMF directors Kimball Gallagher, Yiling Chiang, and Kaiyin Huang performed classical works and collaborated with Burmese artists, including vocalists Daw Khin Soe Win and Jewel. Western classical repertoire and traditional Myanmar classics were rearranged for the concert, bringing different musical traditions into the same programme.
The rehearsals and smaller stages
Intensive rehearsals began in Yangon on July 13. A series of smaller events gave individual members opportunities to perform and helped prepare the ensemble for the main concert.
These included “Ecstatic Dreams” at the Goethe-Institut on July 21, “An Intimate Night of Music” at Jasmine Palace on July 23, the “Young Artists Showcase” at Royal Music Academy, and a performance at the US Chief of Mission Residence on July 31.
Exchanges beyond the concert hall
The season’s outreach included visits to monasteries in Yangon on July 19, connecting with parents and helping families feel comfortable with their children taking part in the National Theatre performance. On July 27, students from MISY visited Aung Zayar Min Monastic School to share their original songs with fellow students.
The festival also took its choir members and young musicians on their first multi-city tour. In Mandalay, an outdoor concert at the newly opened Jefferson Center drew more than 100 attendees. MMF trainers led a creativity workshop in which five participant groups composed their own songs. The team also gave an interactive performance at Phaung Daw Oo Monastic School on July 28.
The tour continued to Bagan on July 29–30. Working with local tourism industry partners, MMF presented a special concert on July 30, with travellers from the United States joining the visit.
Across the tenth season, the festival reported 90+ performers, 3,300+ spectators, six original songs, and 9+ venues.
The work between seasons
Myanmar Infinity’s development ran alongside preparations for the festival. In February 2025, American educator Teresa McKinney led a creativity workshop in which MMF members composed songs in groups and developed leadership skills for running workshops themselves.
From April to November 2025, local trainers brought workshops and interactive concerts to international and local private schools, community organisations, and monastic schools. The club phase followed from November 2025 to June 2026. In April, representatives from Bamboo Delight, MISY, and Aung Zayar Min Monastic School joined a leadership workshop focused on executive teams, music videos, community service through music, and preparations for the National Theatre showcase.
For the broader 2025–2026 MMF/Myanmar Infinity programme, the report records 2,000+ students attending interactive school concerts, 182+ students joining creativity training, 6+ creativity trainers trained, and 13 schools participating in creativity training.
The report also includes reflections from the people involved. Participant James William described what the group had meant to him:
“MMF is where I found my true self. Even in the darkest times, it has been a source of light. Through music, I found healing, and a place that truly feels like home.”
The tenth season brought these strands together: songs begun in training, clubs developed in schools and community organisations, and young musicians performing alongside established artists. The National Theatre concert offered a public stage for work that had been taking shape between festival seasons.
