Kevin KYAW

Kevin Kyaw is a pianist from Myanmar. He recently graduated summa cum laude from Missouri Western State University where he studied piano performance under Dr. Nathanael May. He grew up in Myanmar studying the piano mostly by himself, relying on free online resources found on the internet and YouTube. During his first year of undergraduate studies in engineering at a local university in Myanmar, he met Kimball Gallagher and Kaiyin Huang, two international concert pianists from the United States and Taiwan, who ignited his passion in pursuing music as his lifelong aspiration.

​Under their guidance and support, Kyaw enrolled at MWSU as a music major on a full scholarship and will soon be continuing his graduate studies in piano performance at the University of Kansas. During his time at MWSU, he has had multiple areas of interest within music which led him to studying not only solo piano, but also viola, chamber music and conducting under the instruction of Prof. Rico McNeela, Director of Orchestral Studies. He worked as an assistant conductor to Prof. McNeela conducting the MWSU Symphony Orchestra in concert last year. As a pianist, Kyaw has performed at music festivals such as Music Fest Perugia (Italy), Maccagno Piano Days Festival (Italy), soundSCAPE Festival (Italy) as well as ATLAS Music Academy (Tunisia), to name a few. His notable performances include appearances at venues such as the National Theatre of Yangon, residence of former U.S. Ambassador to Myanmar Derek Mitchell in Washington D.C. as well as a private concert for State Counsellor of Myanmar, Nobel Peace Prize Winner H. E. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. Kyaw has garnered first prizes in MWSU Concerto/Aria Competition, ATLAS Music Academy Competition and Philharmonic Society of Myanmar Festival Competition. A strong advocate for building the classical music scene in Myanmar, Kyaw currently serves as Assistant Artistic Director of the Myanmar Music Festival.