Moana and the Tribe from NZ at RWMF

AN INDIGENOUS group that is considered to be the most successful in New Zealand, Moana and the Tribe, will sing universal messages on spirituality, prophecy and respect particularly for women at the Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF) held in Kuching, next month.

Consistently pushing the boundaries of Maori music, the band presents a wild fusion of contemporary and indigenous music, dance, songs, poi-rhythms and movement, melding traditional and contemporary styles without compromising either one.

Moana, the charismatic lead singer of the band, is also known to have cleverly blend traditional chant of the haka and taonga puoro with reggae and classical tempo to create her own fusion of traditional and contemporary tunes.

Formed in 2002, Moana and the Tribe soon gained the reputation as one of the most successful indigenous group to emerge from Aotearoa. Among the band's accomplishment include entering the European World Music Chart with its album Toru in 2002, profiled in a special programme on Bavarian Television in Germany and launching the New Zealand feature film entitled The Whale Rider in Germany in 2003.

In 2004, Moana became the first non-American to win the Grand Jury Prize of the USA-based International Songwriting Competition with her song "Moko". It was a sweet victory for Moana as she beat 11,000 entry compositions.

Moana and The Tribe will definitely work the crowd to dance to their energetic and funky beat during the festival. The annual festival is organised by Sarawak Tourism Board (STB) and will be staged at the foot of the legendary Mount Santubong at the Sarawak Cultural Village in Kuching, Sarawak.

The festival will also see other renowned world music performers like Poum Tchack from France, Dazkerieh (Portugal), Inti-illimani (Chile), Jeff & Vida Band (USA), Jouhiorkesteri (Finland), Sekaa Jaya Jenggala (Indonesia), Muzsikas (Hungary), Noreummachi (Korea), Oudaden (Morocco), Red Chamber (Canada/China), St Nicholas Orchestra (Poland), Zawose Family Africa (Tanzania) and Malaysian bands like Asika, AkashA, Kinabalu Merdu Sound and Lan-e Tuyang.

Tickets to the festival are available online at www.ticketcharge.com.my and at the Visitors Information Centre in Kuching (tel: +6 082 410944).

The tickets are priced at RM90 for one-day pass and RM250 for three-day pass each for adults while tickets for children between three and 12 years old is priced at RM45 for one-day pass and RM100 for three-day pass each.

The sales of the three-day passes will end today and starting from tomorrow, only daily passes will be on sale.

During the actual festival dates, the ticket sales at the gate will be sold at RM100 for one -day pass (adult) and a child one-day pass is RM55 each.

The festival is also supported by the Ministry of Tourism, Malaysia and Ministry of Urban Development and Tourism. Other supporting partners include Shell, Malaysia Airlines and MasWings. Astro is the exclusive media partner of the festival.

STB has also included the Rainforest World Craft Bazaar to add more colours to the festival. The bazaar will be held at the same venue.

The Brunei Times