By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, Feb 21: Four young sape players from Sarawak have qualified to compete in the World Championship of Performing Arts (WCOPA) 2025 in California—showing that the nation’s traditional music industry is acknowledged worldwide.
According to Suara Sarawak, the four players are members of the Persatuan Anak Seni Sape Kuching (Pusak)— Baptista Emmanuell Korintus, 10, and Mohd Ikhmal Hakim Nicolas Changing, 19, who will complete as solo performers in the instrumentalist category—while Jane Thien Jing, 12, and Shawn Thien Shuen, 15, will complete as a duo named SJ Borneo.
Although all four have qualified for WCOPA 2025, often called the ‘Olympics of performing arts’, their main challenge is to obtain financial support to cover their participation costs and flight to the United States.
They qualified after passing the Malaysia Championship of Performing Arts audition for the East Malaysia chapter on Feb 18 at Star On Stage (SOS) Kuching.
Baptista, who is the youngest, gets the full support of his father, Korintus Leban, who said his son’s achievement is an essential step in lifting sape music to the global stage.
Meanwhile, Mohd Ikhmal, who was a finalist in the Sape Junior RTM 2024 and Yayasan Perpaduan Sarawak Sape Ambassador 2024, sees his participation as a big challenge as he will be competing against musicians from 70 categories.
As for Jane and Shawn, they are no strangers to the world of performing arts as they have performed at various events, such as the Sarawak International Folklore and Music Festival (Sifma) and the Kuching International Busking Festival (KIBF).
Together with four vocalists who also qualified, they are still looking for sponsors and contributions to realise their dream of making Malaysia proud at the grand stage of them all. — DayakDaily
