Kyaw Kyaw Naing - Like Father, Like Son

Like Father, Like Son

The last Burmese orchestra to play in New York was in 1975 at the Asia Society, the organization says. It was led by Naing's father, U Sein Chit Tee, who performed in Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, the former Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Naing's father was teaching his elder brother to play the pat waing. He remembers that, at four years old, he would sit and watch his older brother struggle to play during a lesson. He learned to play quite well just from observing his father and brother. From then on, his father decided that Naing would study the pat waing and patala, and his brother would specialize in vocals.

Naing started learning the classical Burmese repertory at six years of age. He won second price at a patala (bamboo xylophone) competition in Mandalay. Then he won first prize at the Burmese Era 3000 competition and some other prizes as well. His mother wanted very much for him to be a musician, but his father did not because of the hardships of a traditional musician's life.