Malaysia’s longest running annual jazz festival; the Penang Island Jazz Festival (PIJF) will be celebrating its 12th edition from 3 to 6 December 2015.

As announced at a recent press conference, the festival’s main stage “Jazz By The Beach” programme will feature a wide variety of musical styles throughout the weekend, and some of this year’s performers include Makiko Hirabayashi Trio with internationally renowned Marilyn Mazur on drums and percussions as well as Klavs Hovman on bass, CaboCubaJazz, Tobias Preisig Quartet, Dos Orientales, Angelika Niescier NOW Trio, Near East Quartet, Anne Paceo Yokai, Nina & The Butterfly Fish, Derek Brown BEATBoX SAX and the Penang Philharmonic Big Band.

Apart from the main outdoor stage, other musical activities include this year’s festival Opening Concert – “An Acoustic Evening” at 23 Love Lane on Thursday, 3 December 2015, specialized workshops throughout the weekend conducted by participating artists, as well as “The Island Music Forums” which comprises of local and international panel members on a number of informative topics revolving around the theme of “Going Beyond”.

From Thursday, 3 December 2015 till Sunday, 6 December 2015, festivalgoers can enjoy and visually discover PIJF’s jazz gallery with poster exhibitions such as the “The Visual Arts of Copenhagen Jazz Festival” and “Just For The Love of It – Penang’s Popular Music”. On Friday, 4 December 2015 there will be a talk and performance on “Penang’s Musical Heritage”, celebrating the distinctive musical history of Penang Island. This will be followed by a musical session of music from the era of the 1930s – 1960s by the Northern Jazz Unit featuring Viv Adram, Nurul Rahman, Fred Cheah and ending with a Friday night Jazz Jam led by headlining act CaboCubaJazz.

Besides that, music lovers may also find out more on local Malaysian acts through “The Creative Malaysia Fringe” programme as well as the unique “Sunrise @ Tropical Spice Garden” event which starts at 7.00am on Saturday morning, 5 December 2015.

There will also be an “After Hours Jazz Jam” session held after the main stage performances that will go on till the wee hours of the morning.

Tickets to the “Jazz by the Beach” performances are priced at RM85.00 per night and is available via www.ticketpro.com.my and its authorized outlets. PIJF 2015 is supported by radio partners 988 FM and Capital FM, and listeners will stand a chance to win tickets to the festival through 988 FM’s giveaway contests throughout the month of November 2015.

The Penang Island Jazz Festival “after party” will take place at the Laundry Bar, Curve in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday, 9 December 2015 with FuNkCoustics from Penang, KL based Jumero and Nina and The Butterfly Fish from Norway – come and join in the fun!

For more information on the festival activities, visit www.penangjazz.com or follow us for updates on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

The Penang Island Jazz Festival 2015 is supported by Perbadanan Bekalan Air Pulau Pinang (PBA), Penang Global Tourism Sdn. Bhd., EUNIC Malaysia, British Council, Goethe Institut, Alliance Francaise de Penang, Malaysian German Society, Japan Foundation, Fonds Podium Kunsten, Royal Norwegian Embassy, Norwegian Jazz Forum, Pro Helvetia, Foundation Suisa, Embassy of Denmark, Copenhagen Jazz Festival, Danish Arts Foundation, DJBFA, Jazz Denmark, DMF, Danish Jazz Experience, Jody Jazz, P. Mauriat, Legere, Penang Philharmonic, KK Jazz Festival, International College of Music (ICOM), LBS Music World, Roland Asia Pacific, The Guitar Store, Casio EMI & Little Penang Street Market; with Venue Partners, Bayview Beach Resort, Hard Rock Hotel Penang, Tropical Spice Garden, 23 Love Lane and Laundry Bar; Media Partners Capital FM, Homegrown Productions, Smoothjazz.com, Rentak Sejuta, Lifestyle Asia.