BY JACQUELINE DAVID
KUCHING: Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Ministry will give its support to the Sarawak Choral Festival to organise a bigger event in the state next year.
Its minister, Datuk Seri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said the support and response to the Sarawak Choral Festival had been so overwhelming from everyone.
“This is a very interesting festival and with this kind of support, it is only fair that the state government must be there to back it up,” he said when speaking at the closing ceremony of the Sarawak Choral Festival at the Lecture Theatre of Swinburne University of Technology here, today.
The Sarawak Choral Festival, which was jointly organised by Kuching Choral Society (KCS) and the Young Choral Academy (YCA) of Kuala Lumpur, made its debut here from June 21 to 23.
“My ministry will definitely give its support and that’s one of the reasons why I am down here (to the close the event). You can organise a bigger one next year, God willing, we will give you the fund. We know organising events of this nature, money is always the problem and that’s why I think we should be there to support,” he said.
He also said that the choral festival does have a very far-reaching effect on participants.
“Especially the youth, how it will be able to build up their character and to be a better person in the future,” he said.
Abdul Karim also highlighted that the ongoing renovations at the old State Legislative Assembly (DUN) building which will be transformed into the Sarawak Art Centre, is expected to take two and a half years to complete and able to accommodate many arts performances in the future.
“Once completed, it will be able to accommodate between 600 and 700 attendees (which suit big festivals such as the Sarawak Choral Festival),” he said.
Meanwhile, the inaugural event saw 12 local choirs from various backgrounds and states in Malaysia etched their names into history by being the first batch of choristers to be adjudicated by a panel of distinguished international and local judges.
Before that, KCS president Benedict Lo said the first-ever Sarawak choral festival will help to raise the standards of the state’s local choirs and musicianship, educate the young and bring about more awareness for choral music.
During the two-day debut in the state capital, part of the choir performed at the festival’s two Friendship Concerts at the Vivacity Megamall and Plaza Merdeka Shopping Centre respectively, and graced the opening and closing as well as the awards ceremony at the Lecture Theatre of Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak.
The festival has attracted renowned local choirs such as SMK Kepong Choir, whose accolades include the State Champion of Selangor in 2023 and the Gold Award winner at the Malaysian Choral Eisteddfod (MCE) International Choir Festival 2023.
It also included Sarawak’s own Gold Award winner at the MCE International Choir Festival 2023, La Speranza from SMK Tung Hua, Sibu.
