SANDAKAN: Sepilok Jazz has grown by adding new value each year, with 2026 bringing its first Big Band Symposium alongside expanding youth initiatives and a broader musical programme, said the festival’s music director Cheong Kok An.
“Every year, I search for new value to add to the festival,” he told the Daily Express.
Cheong said the festival’s first edition in 2022 drew just over 100 people, but encouraging feedback from audiences and musicians gave organisers reason to continue.
He said the idea was a gamble when Friends of Sea Turtles Education and Research (Foster) president and Sepilok Jazz organising chairman Alexander Yee approached him about using music to promote conservation to a wider audience from Sepilok, outside Sandakan.
“I am actually not sure, but you know, I have to try it - if you do not try, you will never know,” he recalled.
As music director, Cheong focuses on the musical side of the festival, from selecting artists and planning the stage programme to overseeing sound and the overall flow.
He likened arranging the four-hour nightly programme to “writing a script for a movie”, with each act, transition and finale planned around the available time.
He said the nightly finale is particularly important because jamming remains an important element of jazz performance.
The festival’s second edition introduced young musicians, including children, into performances with professionals rather than separating them into a standalone children’s programme.
Cheong said the approach initially posed a challenge, but the musicians responded positively and young players were eventually able to share the stage with experienced performers.
The next step was Bakat Sepilok Jazz, which began with 85 contestants before growing to 105 participants in its second edition and 132 this year.
“The increase in numbers is very encouraging, and it’s telling us that we are doing something right for the kids in Sabah,” he said.
Cheong said Bakat also showed there was considerable young musical talent in Sabah and provided a platform that could encourage more students to explore jazz.
He described it as, to his knowledge, the biggest jazz music competition in Borneo and said the wider aim was to create music exchanges and overseas performance opportunities for young participants.
This year, the festival also appointed 2024 Bakat Sepilok Jazz winner Ivan Hee as its youth ambassador, with plans for exchanges involving musicians from outside Sabah after the festival.
Another major addition is the Big Band Big Bang symposium, which brings a big-band workshop and mentorship element into the festival programme.
Cheong said he had wanted to organise a big-band workshop for Sabah students for some time, with the opportunity emerging when technical adviser Jeremy Monteiro proposed bringing a youth orchestra from Singapore.
Monteiro, he said, helped extend the programme from three days to seven and enabled visiting professional players to mentor local participants.
Cheong said the workshop would give participants direct exposure to experienced players while helping them better understand jazz performance and the formation of a big-band jazz orchestra.
Musically, Cheong said this year’s programme was designed around variety, with a mix of vocal and instrumental performances spanning blues, soul, funk and fusion.
One of the biggest developments, he said, is the inclusion of Shila Amzah, marking the festival’s first performance by an artiste of her stature.
“Having Shila Amzah come on board and support the event is a big change for us,” he said.
Cheong said Shila’s involvement came through Yee’s conservation network, adding that the festival had received strong support from the singer.
Other acts he highlighted include Janet Lee performing with Tay Cher Siang and the WVC Jazz Quartet in a set featuring Shanghai and Chinese jazz, guitarist Roger Wang, musicians from Jakarta, Italian a cappella group Mezzotono and Yap Ling’s string quartet.
The programme will also feature jazz interpretations of Michael Jackson songs, an idea Cheong said was inspired by hearing a jazz orchestra perform the Miles Davis version of “Human Nature” at an International Jazz Day concert in Singapore.
Despite the festival’s growth, Cheong said budget remained its biggest challenge, particularly when organisers wanted to introduce more programmes or bring in overseas musicians who had expressed interest in performing.
He said the rainforest setting and conservation purpose remained central to Sepilok Jazz’s identity because “apart from enjoying the music, we want to emphasise the value of contributing to conservation to protect the Earth”.
Sepilok Jazz 2026 will be held at the Rainforest Discovery Centre (RDC), Sepilok, here, this Friday and Saturday (Sept 4 and 5), with performances starting at 6pm.
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