Mizzima News

New Delhi (Mizzima) – Top of the line Burmese rock star Zaw Win Htut is arriving in New Delhi on Thursday, with his band, the “Emperor”, to participate in the ‘South Asian Bands festival’, an exchange of musical culture among South Asian nations.

The organizers of the festival, the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), told Mizzima on Tuesday that the Burmese rock band had been invited for the first time to the festival, held annually among countries of South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC).

“We have invited the Rock Band ‘Emperor’ from Myanmar [Burma]. This is the first time a Myanmar [Burmese] rock group is to join the festival,” Rajesh Kapoor, one of the organizers, said.

Leonard Maung Maung Lwin, the keyboard player of the Emperor Band in Rangoon, told Mizzima that their group will be led by vocalist Zaw Win Htut. They are preparing for the festival, where they will belt out five Burmese songs.

“We are proud that we have been invited to perform at the festival. In my career as a manager, this is the first invitation from abroad and I am really proud,” Thant Zaw, manager of the Emperor Band told Mizzima.

The festival will have performances by the Burmese band along with 14 other rock bands from various SAARC countries. The three-day festival, from December 11 to December 13, is also jointly organized by Seher, an Indian cultural organization. 

The festival will be inaugurated by the-all-girls-band ‘Afflatus’ from Shillong and the grand finale will be by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy of Mumbai.

Besides the popular Burmese rock band, the festival will also be joined by ‘Kabul Dreams’ from Afghanistan, ‘Strings’ from Pakistan, 'Fa'thu and The Early Birds' from Maldives, ‘Who’s your Daddy’ from Bhutan, ‘Paranoid of Earthlings’ from Sri Lanka, and ‘1974 AD’ from Nepal.

Zaw Win Htut, who is also a pioneer in rock music in Burma, and his band will perform on December 13, the organizers said.