Tuesday, August 09, 2016

Sarawak Rainforest World Music Festival closes with universal line-up of sounds


KUCHING: The final day of Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF) saw an international line-up crammed with sounds from seven different countries.

The 19th edition of the festival had The Thunder Beats of Nanyang Wushu Drums (Sarawak), Broukar (Syria), Violons Barbares (Bulgaria, Mongolia, France), Chouk Bwa Libete (Haiti), Gendang Melayu Sri Buana (Sarawak) and Auli (Latvia) killing the stage of Sarawak Cultural Village (SCV) last Sunday night.

Twelve drums representing the twelve months of a year from The Thunder Beats of Nanyang Wushu Drums opened the night with their roaring beats.

Datuk Song Swee Hee of Nanyang Wushu Federation of Sarawak orchestrated their choreography.

Festival revellers were then taken to war-torn country of Syria through the classical Arab and Syrian music presented by Broukar.

Taufik Mirkhan, the leader of the band, shared it was their sheer hope to be able to teach their traditional music to the younger generation of Syria once their country achieved peace.

The highlight of Broukar performance was none other than the Whirling Dervish dance.

Ahmad Alkhatib mesmerised the crowd with his rapid rotation and hand movements which was believed in reference to the name of God according to Sufism.

Violons Barbares consisted of three musicians from three countries; Bulgaria, France and Mongolia.

Using Bulgarian bowed string called gadulka, Mongolian violin called Morin Khur and percussion; the trio gave a refreshing performance to the audience.

The sounds they produced were diverse yet harmonious, making the audience sway to their unique music.

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