Jazz festival intends to grow a new audience with the help of corporations

The KL International Jazz Festival 2012 (KLIJF), which makes its debut at the Plenary Hall, KL Convention Centre from May 19-20, is rolling out a unique opportunity for corporations to get involved in sponsoring students and giving them the opportunity to experience the festival.

“Outside the regular jazz fans, we definitely want the new generation of music fans to have contact and be exposed to this far-reaching, all-encompassing music genre. We want to cultivate a fresh interest in jazz in Kuala Lumpur and the many diverse forms that the genre represents,” said KLIJF chairman Maizon Omar at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur recently.

“It’s not just a festival, it is a long-term project to engage the music community in Kuala Lumpur and be a platform to raise the capital’s profile on the international stage,” she added. The Genius Package, which is part of the festival’s outreach programme, is a novel way for corporations to allign themselves with the KLIJF and the music genre itself.

The right chord: (From left) Arts, Culture and Sports Department director Idzaw Raja Ismail, Rodin, Maizon and artistic director Jeremy Monteiro at the countdown session to the inaugural festival.

“We urge companies to come in and sponsor students. We have tailored the Genius Package as an ‘incentive scheme’ for top students in music schools and beyond. A corporation can identify a particular college or university, and be a patron in getting the students to KLIJF. As a first time event, the KLIJF does not have the luxury of big sponsorships, but we have done our best to keep ticket prices affordable as well as not compromising on the quality of the acts in the festival,” said Rodin JS Kumar, the festival’s managing director.

Featuring a host of international and regional acts, the jazz festival is geared up to reignite Kuala Lumpur’s love affair with the music genre and also attract a new generation of jazz fans. Headlined by British acid jazz outfit Incognito on May 19 and legendary American jazz pianist Ahmad Jamal on May 20, the festival supported by City Hall is not short on the major jazz notables.

Over the course of two days, jazz favourites and newcomers will share the same stage at Plenary Hall. Names like acclaimed Japanese pianist Hiromi Uehara alongside Anthony Jackson and Steve Smith will generate keen live interest in terms of technical accomplishment and emotional heft. Elsewhere, you can count on Everette Harp, Ernie Watts, Jeremy Monteiro Quartet, Meg Okura and The Pan Asian Chamber Jazz Ensemble, Jeremy Tordjman Group, Michael Veerapen Quartet with Junji Delfino and the Carl Allen Quartet to light up KLIJF.

Tickets for the festival range from RM238 to RM598 per day, or RM398 to RM998 for a two-day package. They are available at www.ticketpro.com.my. For details on the Genius Package, visit www.klinternationaljazz.com. Hotline: 03-5637-7742/1539.

-thestar online.