Looking forward to 2nd Sarawak International Festival of Music and Arts (SIFMA

We are excited with the forthcoming 2nd Sarawak International Festival of Music and Arts (SFMA) which will be held on hybrid mode at Sarawak Legislative Assembly (DUN) Complex on 20 to 21 November. Kudos to the festival organisers who are aiming to revive and highlight the dynamism of music and arts in Sarawak together with those from overseas.

Highlights of SIFMA 2 will include the “Let’s Talk” forum featuring inspirational stories and advice from professionals and enthusiasts within the music and arts community. Another highlight is “Be A Host”, which invites the audience to enjoy the festival’s live virtual showcase with friends and family via a watch party hosted virtually from anywhere in the world.

The two-day event is once again organised by International Music House Kuching (IMH) and sponsored by the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture Sarawak (MTAC) in which it will feature a two-part live concert.The first part will bring Sarawak to the world, covering a storyline of a musical journey to SIFMA showcasing all major ethnic communities of the Land of the Hornbill.

It will be great for us to see a variety of performers including locals from the Sarawak Chinese Ensemble, led by Kenwy Ho Khong Wee and they will perform the Trapezoidal Yangqin, a Chinese hammered dulcimer that produces a distinctive sound.

There will also be the "Karya Terindah Performing Arts", an arts and cultural dance troupe consisting of dancers from Sarawak will also perform. Also in the line-up will be the Russell and Randell Dance Company which was founded by Sarawak dance personalities with Russell Lim Jian Liang, Randell Lim Xiu Zhen and Cindy Chung Sin Yee forming the dance company’s core team of dance teachers.

Apart from that, we will also be entertained by top violinists from IMH, SONS (Simfoni Orkestra Negeri Sarawak) and other music centres in Kuching The second part of the live concert will bring the rest of the world to Sarawak and will feature top performers of music and dance including the renowned Bolshoi Ballet dancers from Russia, award winning conductor of the Suc Song Moi Ensemble, Quang Vinh Dong, singers from the National University of Singapore (NUS), the Visayan cultural troupe from the Philippines and more.

We are supporting the festival because it is among the steps taken to revive the State’s tourism, arts and culture sector as many programmes have been forced to be put on hold due to the Covid-19 pandemic.