Bandar Seri Begawan - The Brunei Music Society (BMS) concluded its series of concerts for 2009 with a performance by Desert Dreams Asim Gorashi Trio on Saturday night at the Orchid Garden Hotel, Berakas.

Organised in collaboration with the Australian High Commission and Musica Viva Australia, the concert was attended by music enthusiasts comprising of expats and locals in the country.

"It's pretty good. You get to experience this music from Sudan. You can feel the music and the emotions," said Khairina Hj Ibrahim, a third year student of Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL).

This was her first time attending a concert by BMS after having come across a poster publicising the event.

Asim Gorashi is a Muslim Sudanese with a Bachelor degree in Music from University of Sudan majoring in composition. He describes his songs as the kind that promotes peace, love and happiness.

"It is also a combination of different ethnic songs in Sudan that I put together," he said, adding that he composed most of the songs. "If it's not composition, it's the arrangement and variation to westernise it a little."

In his experience, he has arranged over 20 Sudanese folkloric songs in 10 different local languages and has participated - in numerous festivals such as the Khartoum International Festival and the most recent one being the Woodford folk fest in 2007.

"(Music) it's a real international language that you can (use to) communicate with people from different ethnic backgrounds and get them together," said Asim who is a multi-instrumentalist.

Apart from singing, he also plays a number of instruments from the Sudanese traditional Tamboor to the ouhd (an Arabic lute) to the violin and keyboard.

At present he lives in Brisbane and is undertaking a postgraduate research at the Queensland Conservatorium.

He formed his first trio with Daniel Goodacre (piano) also known as Danny G Felix and Steven Manovski (drums) and they have performed in various concerts, festivals and community events since 2003.

Danny G has been working professionally for the past five years enriching the Latin, African, Jazz and Hip Hop scenes in Sydney, while Steven has been performing since childhood. And although his roots are in Macedonian music, he has developed musically over the years and has mastered a variety of styles ranging from pop rock to jazz fusion, Latin and pop.

The next upcoming events organised by BMS will start with a performance by Richard Hand (guitar) and Ileana Ruhemaan (flute) in February 2010.-- Courtesy of The Brunei Times

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