Catch Nisa Addina, Fluoroscent Collective at Borneo Jazz
KUCHING: Sarawak-born award winning violinist Nisa Addina and her band Fluoroscent Collective will share the Borneo Jazz stage with renowned international artistes including Japan’s Osaka Monaurail and Canada’s Laila Biali, this May 12 to 13 at Park City Everly, Miri.
Making headlines since the age of 14, Nisa won three gold awards at the World Championships of Performing Arts ( WCOPA) in Hollywood in 2011 and Anugerah Juara Lagu (AJL) 29 in 2015.
She has since gone on to study at Berklee College in the United States, where she joined Fluoroscent Collective— a band of Berklee students founded by Boston-based Malaysian pianist and recording artist, JennHwan Wong who is also known as Jennthe-Redman—in 2015.
Nisa has been busy performing since 2011, taking the stage at events such as the Johor International Music Festival in 2012, the launch of the Asean International Film Festival and Awards and launch of Malaysia’s 50th anniversary celebrations in 2013, as well as the Global Summit of Women in Kuala Lumpur in 2013 and again in France in 2014.
She also performed for the opening and closing of the Sukma 2016 games in Kuching.
Nisa has even played for a president, having performed for the official visit of the President of China to Malaysia at Seri Perdana in 2013 and launched her first album ‘Yakina’ in 2014 at 17 years old, followed by her second album ‘ Tan Sri P Ramlee’ in 2015.
While Nisa’s journey has not been easy, it has certainly been rewarding, and she has taken inspiration from different mentors who have taught her along the way, including her piano teacher who inspired her to take up violin at the age of 7, her parents and her peers who are like-minded in their passion for music.
“Since entering college and meeting many more people around my age doing the same thing as me, I find myself discovering different worlds of music that I didn’t delve into in my school days.
“It’s so beautiful. I wish to share that,” she said during an interview with Sarawak Tourism, explaining her passion for music, a passion she wishes to share.
“It’s not just a form of entertainment— for me, it shares peace and love.”
Considering Nisa’s accomplishments before she has even graduated from Berklee, her life story has become an inspiration to local musicians in Sarawak and the rest of Malaysia.
As Nisa inspires them, she also continues to encourage them, exhorting them, saying ‘Sarawak needs you’.
Nisa has also urged people to support local artistes and musicians: “They are better than you think. My message is to tell everyone that art is not useless.”
Fluoroscent Collective will be performing a mix of genres from rock to R& B, pop to blues, taking nice melodies and melding them with catchy, odd- time grooves to make their own unique repertoire.
Every member contributes to their original compositions, whether individually written or drawn up as a group effort.
They have recently released a live HD cover video of Miles Okazaki’s composition ‘ Spiral’, and their originals include ‘Point 7’, ‘Orange Line in Jackson’ and ‘ Sunny’ will be performed at Borneo Jazz.
Bands from the Netherlands, Guadeloupe, Japan, South Africa, Italy, USA, Taiwan and other countries from around the world will be performing at the festival.
The festival will be expanding its musical outreach programme, where aspiring musicians can learn the basics of jazz keyboard from professional musicians, introducing additional classes for percussions, and more.
The festival includes night performances with sitting and dancing areas and a wide lawn for night picnics surrounded by arts, crafts and food stalls.
Festival tickets are available now and more information can be found at www.jazzborneo.com.
Borneo Jazz is organised by Sarawak Tourism, endorsed by Tourism Malaysia and is jointly supported by the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Sarawak partnering with Malaysia Airlines as the presenting sponsor.