Agung Beat to Represent Malaysia’s State of Sabah at Rainforest World Music Festival 2011

AgungBeat is scheduled to perform on July at the 2011 edition of the Rainforest World Music Festival in Malaysia. It is one of the two representatives of Malaysia to perform this year at the Rainforest World Music Festival. AgungBeat comes from the neighboring state of Sabah in Malaysian Borneo.

Agung Beat is a nineteen-member gamelan ensemble from Sabah that performs new arrangements of traditional Sabahan music, as well as their own contemporary compositions.

Led by composer and lecturer Roslee Haji Wahid, the ensemble’s members are from a variety of ethnic background such as Kadazan, Dusun, Chinese, and Malay, all majoring in music performance at University Malaysia Sabah (UMS).

AgungBeat has been actively performing in numerous festivals and events in the region such as the Festival Gamelan IPTA, and the Festival Gamelan Sedunia. This is the first performance of gamelan at the Rainforest World Music Festival.

The gamelan is an ensemble of metallophones, xylophones, drums, and gongs native to Malaysia and Indonesia. Each region has its own particular style and repertoire, with gamelan ensembles ranging in size from five or six persons to more than two-dozen performers. Depending on the region, style, and function, gamelan music can range from trance inducing floating melodies, to fiery displays of virtuosity.

AgungBeat will turn up as the first performer to heat up the Rainforest World Music Festival stage on the very first night on July 8. AgungBeat will also perform on the daily Musical Workshop at Dewan Lagenda within the festival site that involved all drummers and dancers. This unique “Drum Dance” session will be a mixer of musical performance by other musicians from Canada, Georgia, Kenya, UK and USA.

The Rainforest World Music Festival has been voted for the second consecutive year as one of the Top 25 Best International Festivals by renowned world music magazine, Songlines, elevating its status in the international music scene as a festival which has well and truly put Sarawak on the world tourism map and extending its appeal to shores further from neighbouring countries.

For purchase/booking/enquiries please visit www.ticketcharge.com.my or call ticketCharge Hotline: +6 03-9222 8811 or at TicketCharge @ No 42A-1, Jalan Metro Pudu, Fraser Business Park, Off Jalan Yew, 55100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

You may also purchase tickets from TicketCharge outlets namely Chambers Music, Telventure Sdn Bhd, Rock Corner all in the Klang Valley or at Speedy Outlets throughout the country or at all Sarawak Tourism Board’s Visitors Information Centres in Kuching (082-410944), Sibu (084-340980) and Miri (085-434180).

For more details, go to www.rainforestmusic-borneo.com.