How Did It Begin?
In 2005, I was asked to come teach music at an international school in Myanmar, a country name with which I was not familiar. Being young and in the mood for an adventure, I took the job. There was no way I could have predicted the next seven years of my life would be spent there or that my experiences would become a permanent part of my identity.
Every culture presents its own set of challenges in teaching music, but the idea of starting a nation's first concert band program in a culture with little connection to western wind instruments is about as far-fetched as it gets. Myanmar has few private teachers for wind instruments and many of these are self-taught. There are no suppliers of concert band sheet music. Instrument availability is limited to rusty second-hand horns or cheap Chinese knock-offs (commonly called "instrument shaped objects"). Even more importantly, there is only one instrument repairman in the country and he is elderly, mostly blind, and mostly deaf. It sounds like a bad joke, but this was my reality for seven years. Nevertheless, I was determined to make a band program work in Myanmar.
I am proud to say that the program was successful and when I left the country in 2012, there were two international school band programs in Myanmar. Interest picked up outside the schools as well, with community leaders asking for help in setting up their own local bands. It was with this audience in mind that I set about creating a Guide to the Instruments for the Burmese Band Director as part of my graduate work at the American Band College of Sam Houston State University.
In 2005, I was asked to come teach music at an international school in Myanmar, a country name with which I was not familiar. Being young and in the mood for an adventure, I took the job. There was no way I could have predicted the next seven years of my life would be spent there or that my experiences would become a permanent part of my identity.
Every culture presents its own set of challenges in teaching music, but the idea of starting a nation's first concert band program in a culture with little connection to western wind instruments is about as far-fetched as it gets. Myanmar has few private teachers for wind instruments and many of these are self-taught. There are no suppliers of concert band sheet music. Instrument availability is limited to rusty second-hand horns or cheap Chinese knock-offs (commonly called "instrument shaped objects"). Even more importantly, there is only one instrument repairman in the country and he is elderly, mostly blind, and mostly deaf. It sounds like a bad joke, but this was my reality for seven years. Nevertheless, I was determined to make a band program work in Myanmar.
I am proud to say that the program was successful and when I left the country in 2012, there were two international school band programs in Myanmar. Interest picked up outside the schools as well, with community leaders asking for help in setting up their own local bands. It was with this audience in mind that I set about creating a Guide to the Instruments for the Burmese Band Director as part of my graduate work at the American Band College of Sam Houston State University.
About the Author
Michael Shirk grew up the fourth child out of five in a military family. At the age of ten, he settled with his family in Washington state. After teaching band in the Central Kitsap School District, he took a gamble on teaching in Myanmar, where he met his wife, Ah Zet. After seven wonderful years in Myanmar, Mike and Ah Zet moved to a new school in South Korea, where their daughter, May Htoi, was born.
Mr. Shirk is currently the middle school band director at Korea International School in the Bundang area of South Korea, about a 20 minute drive south of Seoul. His responsibilities include teaching the middle school bands, jazz bands, and percussion classes. Mr. Shirk received his Bachelor's degree in Music Education from Central Washington University and is nearing completion of his Master's degree in Conducting at the American Band College of Sam Houston State University.
Mr. Shirk is currently the middle school band director at Korea International School in the Bundang area of South Korea, about a 20 minute drive south of Seoul. His responsibilities include teaching the middle school bands, jazz bands, and percussion classes. Mr. Shirk received his Bachelor's degree in Music Education from Central Washington University and is nearing completion of his Master's degree in Conducting at the American Band College of Sam Houston State University.