Realms Beyond Borders
This cross-cultural/cross-disciplinary initiative unites a group of international and Myanmar-based artists to collaboratively compose music inspired by the Buddhist Realms of Existence. Each composition will be based on a distinct "realm" reimagined through the lens of contemporary Music. Through a series of creative virtual exchanges, the RBB artists will bring together their diverse expertise, backgrounds and perspectives to co-create these original compositions… begging the questions…
What will the music sound like?
Click on the artist to hear their music
As a young entrepreneur, a traditional musician, and an advocate for promoting Myanmar traditional music on the global stage, Htet Arkar began his musical journey in 2000 by participating in the National Competition of Myanmar Traditional Cultural Arts and Performances, where he played the Myanmar Pattala (bamboo xylophone). He went on to gain recognition for his Hsaing Waing performances, winning 21 gold medals at various levels of the competition, and going on to learn Myanmar’s traditional music from various masters.
He has collaborated on several Myanmar music albums with various local artists: "Ar Lu, Thar Kuu, Nhar Buu, Gan Duu" electro-music album by Thxa Soe, "Yarzawin Khayee Thel" by Ko Koe Mhan Thar, "Yote Sone Let Yar" by Ayoe, "Pachi Kar Lay" by Myat Thu Soe, "Kha Yay" Myanmar Songs Album by Sandaya Aung Kyaw Myo, "Thagyan" Song with Nay Min Eain.
Recently, Htet Arkar managed and arranged performances for Myanmar’s representatives at the World Expo 2020 Dubai as both an art and music director.
Htet Arkar
Itö
Win Htut Thawdar (Itö) is a composer, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist who has been an active member in Myanmar’s music scene for the past 18 years. Since 2020, Ito has been the director of the Myanmar Jazz Club (MJC) where he hosts weekly Jazz and Blues jams with local musicians, and hosts International Jazz Festivals and jazz gigs.
From his first rock album “Min Shi Yar” (2005), his participation in the Myanmar underground progressive metal scene, Myanmar Guitar Instrumental Show, MEMORY! Film Festival to his collaboration with US jazz guitarist David Mooney, Ito’s musical universe crosses cultural and musical boundaries, navigating between jazz, rock, folk, experimental, and electronic music.
James Greening-trombone Search JAMES GREENING - TROMBONE and a plethora of projects past and present will hit the screen. James Greening has been a leading voice in the music scene in Sydney and Australia for more than thirty years. Trombones, pocket trumpet, slide trumpet, tuba, sousaphone and diddly bow bass add to James' diversity as a performer. His roots are in any music that grooves, expressed more often in jazz as a founding member of seminal Australian jazz bands such as Ten Part Invention, Wanderlust, the catholics, the Umbrellas and the Australian Art Orchestra. Internationally James has worked with Teramasa Hino, Mark Elias, Tony Malaby, Maria Schneider, the Mingus Big Band, Martha Wainwright, Lou Reed, Brian Wilson, Josh Roseman (at the 2011 Wangaratta Jazz Festival) and Bennie Maupin (at the 2012 Capital Jazz Project). He currently works with Gai Bryant in Caribe and ALLY.
James Greening
In 1987, the pedagogical institute in Weingarten, Germany awarded a scholarship for a one-year exchange program at the University of Alabama to one of their students, jazz pianist Monika Herzig. Together with her partner and guitarist Peter Kienle, she arrived in the States on a one-way ticket, with one suitcase of belongings and one guitar in August 1988.
Since then she has completed her Doctorate in Music Education and Jazz Studies at Indiana University, where she taught for three decades. She is the author of David Baker – A Legacy in Music, published in 2011 by IU Press, Experiencing Chick Corea with Rowman & Littlefield, 2017, co-editor ofJazz and Gender (Routledge, 2022) and the previous editor of Jazz Education in Research and Practice (IU Press). Currently she is Professor of Artistic Research and Dean of Music Education at the Jam Music Lab University, Vienna. She is the host of Talking Jazz, a radio program/ podcast broadcast weekly on WICR and WETF, as well as on podcast services and youtube.
As a touring jazz artist, she has performed at many prestigious jazz clubs and festivals, such as the Canaris Mas Jazz Festival, Jazz Tales Festival, Women in Jazz Festival, Indy Jazz Fest, , the W.C.Handy Festival, to name just a few. Groups under her leadership have toured the US, Europe, and Japan, opened for acts such as Tower of Power, Sting, the Dixie Dregs, Yes, and more.
Monika Herzig
Pana Topoonyanont
Pana Topoonyanont is an accomplished saxophonist hailing from Thailand, whose musical journey bridges the realms of jazz and contemporary music. A graduate of the College of Music at Mahidol University with a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Studies, Pana's early career saw him performing and refining his craft in Bangkok. In pursuit of further musical excellence, he relocated to New York City, where he earned a Master of Music in Jazz Performance from the Aaron Copland School of Music, Queens College.
Currently based in Bangkok, Pana continues to thrive as a musician, composer, arranger, and educator. His teaching engagements include roles at the College of Music, Mahidol University, and other esteemed institutions, where he imparts his knowledge and passion for music to the next generation of musicians.
Pana approaches his artistry with a blend of technical proficiency and emotional depth, aiming to share his love for music in a meaningful way. He is grateful for the opportunities he has had and remains dedicated to exploring new musical horizons, hoping to connect with audiences through his music.
Gai Bryant-soprano/alto saxophones, flute. Gai Bryant has worked with Korean taegum maestro Won Hyang-Juan, Jim McNeely, Carl Orr, Mark Simmonds, Paul McNamara, Sandy Evans, Jackie Orzaczky, Jann Rutherford, Lloyd Swanton, Janet Seidel, Don Burrows, Roger Frampton and others. She has toured with her own groups within Australia performing at major jazz venues and jazz festivals. Internationally she has toured to Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Sweden and Finland performing with her own groups and as a guest instrumentalist. She is currently working with 18-piece Afro-Cuban group Palacio de la Rumba, 8-piece Caribé performing with Grammy-nominated Cuban pianist Elio Villafranca and Afro-Peruvian group ALLY. ALLY are collaborating with Afro-Dominican musicians Josean and Otoniel Nicolás for an Australian tour of Afro-Dominican Jazz in March 2025.
Gai Bryant
Samuel Kreusler is a contemporary composer and guitarist. Alongside completing his Bachelor of Music and Honours Degree majoring in Interactive Composition, Samuel has participated in multiple projects including an ACMI X residency and the Annual Pacific Alliance of Music Schools Summit in Singapore. He has collaborated with Film Dir. Peter Allen, Sydney Theatre Company and Invictus Quartet.
In 2019, Samuel was commissioned by the University of Melbourne to create an original work to celebrate the re-launch of Southbank campus, and selected to travel to Italy to showcase the work at the Accademia Dell’arte in Florence. This work has since been nominated for a 2020 Art Music Award in the section ‘Work of the Year: Chamber Music’, presented by APRA AMCOS and the Australian Music Centre. He was recently commissioned by Arts Centre Melbourne to compose a work for the 5x5x5 Memory project.
Samuel Kreusler
Zac Grafton is a bassist, composer and improvisor based in Boorloo (Perth, Australia). He has appeared at festivals throughout the country in Melbourne, Sydney, Perth and Brisbane as well as internationally in New York, Stanford California, Hong Kong, Tokyo, and throughout Europe. Highlights of Zac’s career to date have been performances with Peter Bernstein, Will Vinson, George Garzone, Fabian Almazan and Troy Roberts as well as the opportunity to take lessons with Gilad Hekselman, Robert Hurst, Walter Smith III, Jonathan Zwartz, and Linda Oh. Zac has also featured on a number of albums including Number Junky “Earth Matters”, Harry Mitchell Quintet “Symmetry”, Jamie Oehlers “Night Music”, and Grievous Bodily Calm who are multiple WAM award winners, including Best EP, Best Electronic Act, Best Bassist ’23 and ’24 and their latest album“Cascades” was nominated for AIR Jazz album of 2024.
Zac Grafton
Davy Mooney is a jazz guitarist from New Orleans who records for Sunnyside Records and is Associate Professor of Jazz Studies and head of the jazz guitar program at the University of North Texas, where he teaches private lessons and advanced jazz improvisation.
Mooney has two books published by Mel Bay: 2019's guitar and improvisation instructional book “Personalizing Jazz Vocabulary”, and 2022's “Into the Labyrinth: An Anatomy of Position Playing for Jazz Guitar”.
Mooney has a PhD in Jazz Performance from New York University, and wrote a dissertation on the early 1960s work of Joe Pass entitled “Joe Pass’s Catch Me!, For Django, and Joy Spring: Transcription and Analysis.”
He competed in the 2005 Thelonious Monk International Guitar Competition, placing third, and studied at the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance from 2007 to 2009, under artistic director Terence Blanchard. The Monk group worked with many jazz legends — including Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Dee Dee Bridgewater, and Ron Carter — and toured Panama and India.
Davy Mooney
Armin & Nardin are a singer/songwriter couple originally from Iran but came to Germany in 2022 to study Music Therapy. Having musical backgrounds since their childhoods, getting to know about the therapeutic aspects of music made a big change in their musical and spiritual journey. Their goal is to combine the healing aspects of music with spiritual practices to bring healing and growth in different aspects of people’s lives.
Armin & Nardin
Thu Ta
Thu Ta Aung, an up-and-coming new generation jazz drummer/ audio engineer, has always been a musical kid since he was young. His musical journey began during primary school, taking part in the school choir, taking music classes and playing in school bands. He holds a Bachelor in Hospitality and Tourism from Edinburgh Napier University (2021) and Diploma in Audio Engineering from Audio Engineering Society Myanmar (2023) (AES Myanmar, Creative Media Institute). Thu Ta has been doing Music Production for 12+ years now and since the Diploma in Audio Engineering from AES Myanmar, he became an Audio Engineer. He owns and operates Reno Music Studios, a safe space where musicians can jam, record songs and unleash their creativity through the medium of music. Thu Ta’s drumming career started off when he took drum classes as part of the Diploma program by AES Myanmar. He first joined and took interest in Jazz Drumming when he attended the 5 Day Workshop held by the Myanmar Jazz Club (MJC) as part of the 2023 International Jazz Day festival (IDJ). Ever since then, he as taken part in shows such as 2023 International Jazz Day Festival at Institut francais de Birmanie (IFB), Yangon Jazz Fest at Governor's Residence 2023, 4E Jazz Concert, International Jazz Day 2024 at IFB, Fête de la Musique, Francophonie 2024, Rise Again Charity Jazz Concert and many other Jazz events in Yangon. He is currently active as a drummer in 7 different bands in total such as Happy Campers (jazz fusion band), Tun Oo and Friends (latin jazz band), Delight Jazz Band (Jazz big band), Purple Phase (Alt-rock band), Moon Arcade (Art-rock band), M.O.E (Experimental-rock band) and Soft Things (Shoegaze band).
The sound of triolog., which was founded in Heidelberg in 2020, is influenced by a wide range of classical and contemporary artists, ranging from Brad Mehldau and Thelonious Monk to Snarky Puppy and Chick Corea. Each of the three musicians brings this versatility and joy of playing with their own compositions. They are Tilman Rivinius (Klavier), Christian Monninger (Schlagzeug), and Manuel Brenner (Bass).
In addition to public appearances, they regularly play at weddings and other private events. They offer a diverse repertoire of jazz standards and their own pieces, which can cover a wide range of needs, from relaxed background music at champagne receptions to fast dance pieces.
triolog. unites an unconditional passion for music. For them, the trio is an artistic balance and source of inspiration that forms a counterbalance to the challenges of everyday work. Their numerous musical influences, which range from Bach to Miles Davis to metal, ensure an unpredictable mixture of playful rhythms, complex harmonies, delicate melodies and full soundscapes.
