By Mazlan Yusof
GOMBAK, 2 March 2017: The annual concert Citra Muzikal, organised by CITRA, a musical and cultural unit of IIUM, held at IIUM Cultural Centre (ICC) last night was a success.
The concert with the theme œBudi Setahun, Segunung Intan (A year of virtue equals to a mountain of diamond) received a rousing welcome from the audience going by the enthusiastic applause throughout the concert.
In attendance was IIUM President Tan Sri Dato Seri Utama Rais Yatim, IIUM Rector, Prof. Dato Sri Dr. Zaleha Kamarudin, deputy rectors, and senior figures from the government and music and entertainment industry.
The main hall of the ICC was packed with audience.
The concert saw 131 musical performers showing off their talents which included the gamelan, caklempong, angklung, modern percussions, keyboard, violin, flute, drums, guitar, accordion.
All the performers were full time IIUM students coming from different kulliyyahs and departments. The performers were supported by vocal groups, singers, and dancers.
The songs were in tune with the concert ˜s theme, mostly about the value of virtue and good deeds. Together they all put up a rousing foot-tapping Malay and contemporary musical numbers and dances.
Added to the mix throughout the concert was a professional-level sound and light show.
The two MCs at the CITRA concert were students from Malaysia and Guinea who dazzled the crowd with Malay pantuns (Malay oral poetic forms).
The final musical number of the concert was a rendition of a song whose lyrics was penned by IIUM President called œBudi Tamadun Kita (virtue is our civilisation).
At the end of the exciting two-hour long concert Tan Sri Rais announced that a RM50,000 budget allocation was to be set aside to sustain CITRAs amazing development into a university asset.
If anything to go by based on last nights CITRA concert, the President was confident the unit would become the platform to showcase IIUM as well as the Malay-Muslim cultural heritage to the world.***