Friday, July 14, 2006

World music at your feet in Sarawak

By SHARON LING

ANOTHER year, another successful staging of the Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF).

Once more, large crowds of revellers gathered at the foothills of Mount Santubong in Sarawak Cultural Village for an extravaganza of music from around the world.

Sarawak Urban Development and Tourism Minister Datuk Wong Soon Koh described music as a common language that could bring the world together when he launched the ninth RWMF on July 6, and this was amply demonstrated throughout the next three days of the festival.

Not only did it feature musicians and artistes from across the globe, it also drew a multicultural, international audience clearly intent on enjoying themselves to the full.

Nor were they disappointed: the festival line-up was its usual eclectic mix of performers from the spiritual music of Tengir Too from Kyrgyzstan and the hauntingly beautiful throat-singing of Mongolian group Egschiglen to lively folk songs from Canadian trio Genticorum and wild gypsy music from French band Les Yeux Noirs.

There were also memorable performances from Mali diva Nahawa Doumbia, ably accompanied by her band on traditional African instruments, the Austrian quartet hotel Palindrone who played all manner of European folk music and the Peatbog Faeries from Scotland with their fusion of Celtic and modern music.

Music from another rainforest was performed by Madagascan singer and multi-instrumentalist Kilema while groovy Latin American and Caribbean tunes were provided by Calle Sur.

Traditional Asian music was represented by the energetic Chungmyung Art Troupe from Korea, who played four different kinds of percussion instruments in an ancient art form known as “samul nori”, as well as local groups from Sarawak and the peninsula.

The latter included “sape” musicians, a Bidayuh bamboo band, the Kuching Oriental Traditional Orchestra, the Malaysian Dhol Federation and Istana Budaya’s Istamuzika.

Many had also learnt to say “Terima kasih”, which brought even more applause from the enthusiastic crowd.

As next year will be the festival’s 10th anniversary, fans can expect a bigger and better show come July 13-15, 2007.

Source: The Star

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