Young musicians of the Yangon Orchestra perform at the Chatrium Hotel to honour contributors to the Home & Basics for the Nargis Victims Project. Pic: Hein Latt Aung

RAPTUROUS applause fills the hall as the final rush of music filters through the air.

The young musicians, wearing big smiles, look satisfied with their evening’s work, the outcome of months of hard practice.

Performed by the Yangon Orchestra at the Chatrium Hotel on July 6, the concert involved more than 30 musicians with an average age of 20. The concert was performed to honour the contributors to the Home & Basics for the Nargis Victims Project.

Organised by the Myanmar Marketing Association (MMktA) and Online Donation Group, the project’s aim is to build as many houses as possible as quickly as possible to shelter families made homeless by cyclone Nargis.

The charity concert is the first time the Yangon Orchestra has performed. Saw Tamla Wah, the orchestra’s conductor, was pleased that the first performance of the orchestra should be for charity. No charge was made by the orchestra for the performance.

“We did it out of love and compassion. And I’m really glad that we could make our debut successfully and collectively,” he said. Saw Tamla Wah is also a music teacher in the orchestra.

Behind the success, the concert was not without its difficulties. “As you know, people are different, sort of like the length of fingers, so it wasn’t easy to get together and practice with an exact timetable.”

Although the musicians are young and don’t have much experience, he was impressed by their considerable passion for music. The youngest participant is just eight-years old.

“As far as I’m concerned, these young people are crazier in music compared with the older generation. They are patient, gentle and dedicated to music, all necessary qualities to become a musician. That’s why this young generation can make their dreams come true.”

The Yangon orchestra, which is seeking to become a full symphony orchestra and a breeding ground for generations of talented musicians, was set up on February 11 in 2008 when a small private concert was held at the International Business Centre.

However, maintaining the orchestra long-term is no east task, the main challenge being financial.

“To set up an orchestra, we need a lot of money and musicians. We need more wind instruments to make our orchestra bigger. And instruments will break down one day and we will have to use new ones and repair the old ones. So we need money,” says Saw Tamla Wah.

“It’s also hard to earn a living as a musician. Though the present members can stand the situation now…everything is changing and they may change their career for a better living.

“We can’t stop them from leaving and the only way to keep the music alive is to have young people come into it. We are also trying to introduce this music to younger people. I always try to inspire my musicians and say that if your aim is to do something, you can succeed.

“Strong spirit is not enough, their success also depends on how they are supported and inspired. They need support and encouragement for the future.”
To deal with the financial problems, the organisers raise funds by accepting invitations to play at events such as wedding ceremonies or indoor events.

At a time when most young people think classical music boring, the musicians from the Yangon Orchestra are finding challenges and rewards in the music.
The 22-year-old cellist and section principle, James Hsar Doe Soe says his big aim in life is to make the group into a symphony orchestra.

“I started to learn cello at the age of 16. At that time, there weren’t many people who had ever seen and listened to cello. When I carried the cello, some asked me ‘What is this? Is it a big violin? How do you hold it under your chin and play with bow?’

“When we performed with orchestral music, some people thought we were playing the backing music from Tom and Jerry cartoons. That’s funny. And we also faced negative critics concerned about the music. Some people said ‘Hey, are you all crazy? How can we understand without vocal parts?”

The larger problem though concerns instruments. Young musicians like James have to deal with a lack of instruments and teachers.

“My former cello is a really old one with local made strings. Whenever I played, it really hurt and I often scratched my fingers,” he said.

“We had to practice and learn cello by listening to albums and watching TV. But when I went to Australia early this year to attend a private music lesson, I found that I had many mistakes in my learning. I don’t want my juniors to make the same mistakes as I did.”

Unfortunately for young musicians in Yangon, James will not be around to pass on his knowledge for a while; he has been awarded a four year scholarship from the National University of Singapore (NUS) and is going to leave the country in late July to study at Yong Siew Toh, which is Singapore’s first conserv-atory of music at NUS

“When I come back to Myanmar, I’ll share what I have learnt with my juniors and promising young talents. And I hope that our orchestra will get an internationally recognised rank and we can promote the classical music to get greater publicity here. Who says we can’t?”