NOGHORI ARTS SCHOOL HITS HIGH NOTE IN PRAGUE AS DUO CLINCH OVERALL TITLE

SEREMBAN, Dec 28 (Bernama) -- The Noghori Arts School established at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Tunku Ampuan Najihah here made history after winning the Duo Singing category and the Overall Champion title for the Music Band category at the 43rd International Folklore and Music Competition Prague 2024 in the Czech Republic recently.

With harmonious vocals and impressive expressions through the song ‘Mentera Semerah Padi’, two 13-year-old students, Jeszel Iskandar Mohd Azhar and Rayyen Fitri Syafiyudin, captivated the panel of international jury to take home the title of champion in the Junior Duo Singing 1 category.

For the Music Band category, the group known as The Jang's, comprising five students from SMK Tunku Ampuan Najihah and one each from SMK Dato Haji Mohd Redza, SMK Dato Abdul Samad and Sekolah Dato Abdul Razak, aged 13 to 16, managed to outclass 40 teams from around the world with the song ‘Medley Gema Tradisi’.

SMK Tunku Ampuan Najihah music teacher Muhamad Hazrin Ishak said the victory was unexpected as it was their first time representing Malaysia in an international competition.

“We prepared for about a month for this competition … in August we won the national competition here, after which the Ministry of Education (MOH) offered to nominate us for this (Prague) competition.

“We are all very excited to win because so many great teams participated, it is an honour to represent the country on the world stage, we have just formed the team ‘The Jang's’ under the Noghori Arts School," he told Bernama here today.

He said the success was also the biggest achievement for Noghori Arts School and Negeri Sembilan, thus proving that the country’s artistic talents are on par with the international level as well as being a catalyst for the group to continue to develop.

“This success is the result of the students' hard work, dedication and intensive training as well as assistance from various parties, especially the Negeri Sembilan government. This victory will certainly be an inspiration for other students to excel in the field of arts and culture,” he said.

He said the 43rd International Folklore and Music Competition Prague 2024 was held from Dec 11-21 at Radiopalac, Prague, Czech Republic and apart from the music teams from schools in Negeri Sembilan, the competition also saw participation from several other Malaysian schools in other categories.

The Principal of SMK Tunku Ampuan Najihah, Nor Hayati Abdul Rahman, also expressed her appreciation and pride for the team’s success in bringing glory to the country and hoped for more of such successes in the future.

“We succeeded in going to the international level and winning, thank you to all the students and teachers who trained them, moreover the new Nogori Arts School was just a year old since its establishment, my hope is to see our participation in all fields including theatre, dance and visual arts on the international stage,” she said.

-- BERNAMA