Gongs And Skins: Upcoming Percussion Festival

A percussion workshop was held on Tuesday brining international musicians to Myanmar for the upcoming percussion festival. 

Goethe Institute Myanmar and French Institute organized a series of workshops since last Sunday leading to Gongs and Skins, an international percussion festival which will be held later this month.

DIRECTOR, GOETHE INSTITUTE, FRANZ AUGUSTIN: The musicians from different countries are working together and are developing new pieces which didn't exist before. And its not that every group brings one piece and performs it, our intention is to make them play together to cooperate and to create this kind of fusion. And that makes this project so particular because people in Yangon and different other places are going to listen to new pieces which have never been played before. 

International musicians from six different countries and Myanmar musicians are going to perform together at the festival. 

LEADER, SHAN TRADITIONAL ASSOCIATION ( TAUNGGYI), SAI HAK KHAE: We have a total of seven people to play gongs and now we are working together with the group from Malaysia to combine their flute with Shan traditional dance. 

PROFESSOR, FREIBURG UNIVERSITY, BERNHARD WULFF: Now we are working for one week very intensively and workshops and we listen to their music, they listen to our music and find the cooperation. 

The festival is from the 31st July to 6th August and will kick off at National Theatre in Yangon on the 31st of this month with free entry to the public.