PETALING JAYA: The 59 all-girl Sekolah Seri Puteri Symphonic Winds Orchestra (SPWinds) grabbed the gold at the 30th Australian International Music Festival 2019 in Sydney.
The band, compromising students from the school in Cyberjaya, beat 100 participants from schools around the world for the coveted prize.
The week-long festival, which took place between July 4 and 11, featured a mixture of choral, wind bands and orchestral groups.
The group wowed the festival jury with their unique renditions of Datuk Seri Siti Nurhaliza Tarudin’s Cindai, Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody, Armenian composer Aram Khachaturian’s Spartacus and Primavera by Satoshi Yagisawa.
Malaysia Airlines Group CEO Captain Izham Ismail praised the students for flying the nation’s flat high in Sydney.
“We are honoured to be part of their exciting journey and our small contribution reflects our support not just in sports and formal education but also co-curricular activities that complement academic learning,” he said in a statement to theSun.
Sekolah Seri Puteri Parent-Teacher Association chairman Hasnal Hashim expressed his joy with the team’s achievement and the perseverance and dedication of all stakeholders, as well as partners which included Malaysia Airlines.
“On behalf of the administration of Sekolah Seri Puteri, we would like to express our utmost appreciation and gratitude to the PTA of Sekolah Seri Puteri, the SP Parents Support Group (KSIB), the main sponsors and those who contributed endlessly to the victory of SPWinds. “
“To the SPWinds team, we are absolutely proud to see you stand in the eyes of the world,” he added.
The week-long festival was aimed to provide youths with performing opportunities and educational workshops at some of Sydney’s most iconic venues including the Sydney Opera House, Darling Harbour and the heritage-listed Conservatorium of Music.
