DEVOTED to promoting sustainability, eco-footing and building a cohesive music, arts and culture ecosystem within the local community, the highly anticipated Borneo Jazz festival will be empowering the community through its social empowerment platform such as Borneo Jazz Talent Search, Borneo Jazz FAB LAB, ECO DRUM JAM Project and Eco Art Project.
Being one of the longest running jazz festivals in the region, the Borneo Jazz festival is returning to Coco Cabana in Miri (Sarawak) from June 24-26.
Themed “Jazz in The Jungle”, this 17th edition of the event will be held in a hybrid format for the first time to reach out to the greater jazz-loving community worldwide.
It will be joined by international performers from Singapore, Japan, France, Switzerland, the US, Hungary and the host country, Malaysia.
Curated by No Black Tie and in keeping with the festival’s objectives to bring musicians from cultural backgrounds together in Borneo, this year’s edition will highlight cross-cultural musical collaborations from jazz, soul and bossa nova to hip hop in celebration of Jungle Jazz.
One of main Borneo Jazz’s objectives is building on the music tourism ecosystem in Miri to elevate the resort city as a cultural and music centre. In line with Sarawak Tourism Board’s goals to promote sustainable and responsible tourism, Borneo Jazz will be providing fun and educating workshops and eco-friendly projects prior to the festival.
Below are some pre-festival activities:
- Borneo Jazz Talent Search (April 1 to May 31): This event serves as a platform to provide musicians aged 15 and above from all over Malaysia to make their talent known on the world stage with categories ranging from Jazz to DJ and Open.
Winners of Borneo Jazz Talent Search 2022 will not only win cash prizes but have the opportunity to attend a MasterClass by an international band on June 24 in Miri as well as to perform during Borneo Jazz Festival on June 25.
- Borneo Jazz FAB LAB (May 9 to June 18): Bringing musicians of diverse cultural backgrounds together to celebrate jazz music and empower the local community, this new artist residency programme called FAB LAB will be an intensive six-week interactive workshop in Miri for 30 musicians.
FAB LAB aims to empower and enliven musicians prior to Borneo Jazz festival through four workshops, namely Music Appreciation (Listen and Make It Your Own); Methodology (How to FEEL Free Playing Music); Sound Engineering (Make It Sound Good!); and Performance Module (Let’s Play).
- ECO DRUM JAM Project (June 5, 2:30pm-6:30pm): ECO DRUM JAM is an eco-friendly initiative and community music outreach programme with Lewis Pragasam and FAB LAB artists at Coco Cabana to create unique drums and percussion instruments from recycling waste and to produce feel-good beats from community drumming sessions as a lead up to Borneo Jazz Festival 2022. – May 10, 2022
