Marching to the tune of unity

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SEVENTEEN international and local marching bands are pitting their skills, creativity and musical talents to outbid each other for the championship title of the inaugural KFC-Malaysia World Band Competition 2009.

The competition is jointly organised by ZI Production Sdn Bhd and Yayasan Di Raja Sultan Mizan offering a total cash purse of USD28,000 (RM95,956) ( for the three main categories – marching bands, drum battle and national division (local) championship.

The event has attracted seven international marching bands from Australia, Indonesia, South Africa and Thailand, while Malaysia is represented by 10 marching bands.

Colourful and vibrant: The South Africa Marching Show Band Association in action.

It is recognised as Asia’s premier marching band competition with the participation of more than 1,200 international and local musicians.

Themed “Hear the Colours of the World”, it is endorsed by the international body for marching band, Drum Corps Europe (DCE), Malaysia Bands Association (MBA) and Tourism Malaysia.

DCE is the international organization that regulates the European drum corps activity.

It organises the annual European Drum Corps Championships, with corps from Great Britain, The Netherlands, France, Belgium, Sweden, Italy and other countries.

The competition kicked off with the Wind Orchestra Competition 2009 in Johor Bahru on Dec 5 and 6 which was organised by Johor Corporation.

A street parade and the preliminary round were held in Kuala Terengganu last week and hosted by the Terengganu state government.

According to organising chairman Datuk Sulaiman Mohd Yusof, the event has successfully achieved its principal objectives and was given the thumbs-up by the international participants and DCE judges to make it an annual competition.

“We are grateful for the support from DCE and MBA which had given us the strength to pursue our main objective of taking the future series into the regional and international arena.

“Moving forward, it is our vision and mission to further promote marching band and its music as a healthy hobby and activity among the younger generation. Marching bands or music, in general transcends all racial and religious barriers,” added Sulaiman.