PRESS RELEASE20 JULY 2009


The Republic Cultural Centre Presents IGNITE! Music Festival 2009
Service-learning to be permanent theme at Singapore’s key platform for local bands

Singapore, 20 July 2009 – After a highly successful inaugural run last year, Singaporeans can look forward to IGNITE! Music Festival 2009, a series of mini concerts featuring several top local musicians and bands. The festival which is presented by The Republic Cultural Centre at Republic Polytechnic, will be held on Friday, July 24 and Saturday, July 25 at the school’s lawns.

In line with this year’s theme, Passion and Compassion, IGNITE! Music Festival 2009 aims to highlight youth activism and service in a dynamic setting that spans a myriad of musical genres. Bringing together musical exuberance and educational excellence, the festival will provide not only a key platform for local independent bands and musicians to showcase their musical talent, but also offers Voluntary Welfare Organisations (VWOs) an avenue to raise awareness for Service-Learning (SL) among youth in Singapore.

“Republic Polytechnic is extremely proud to present this music festival which has been hailed as one of the most exciting outdoor events organized by an educational institution. The festival demonstrates the range and depth of exposure available at Republic Poly, and the vibrant student life our cohort experience here, with many students actually involved in pulling the event together, from conceptualization to delivery,” said Ganesh Kalyanam, Director of The Republic Cultural Centre.

“The theme for this year, Passion and Compassion, also highlights Republic Poly’s commitment to Service-Learning.   At Republic Poly, we believe in enriching our students’ learning experience beyond the academic discipline to nurture compassionate individuals.  The festival will be a unique platform to drive awareness for youth volunteerism and service.”

The event, which drew a 3,500-strong crowd last year, was held in aid of Operation Smile Singapore. Continuing its mission to promote SL and in keeping with the theme of Passion and Compassion, exhibition booths will also be set up to showcase the projects that teams from Republic Polytechnic have carried out over the last year. In a bid to raise awareness of youth volunteerism, and drive interest in this area even further, seven VWOs, including Children Cancer Foundation and Singapore Association of the Visually Handicapped, will also set up booths to recruit youth volunteers and garner support for their cause.

Boasting state-of-the-art visuals and technical stage displays, IGNITE! will showcase top local bands playing a wide mix of musical genres, enhanced by spectacular state-of-the-art audio visual experiences.

A total of 13 bands will perform over the two-day finale including two bands which are entirely comprised of RP students,  heregoesnoth!ng and Qovein, as well as a selection of other bands including A Vacant Affair and The Great Spy Experiment in a  variety of genres that include Rock, Pop, Indie, Alternative, Latin, Reggae and Funk.  A full list of bands performing is available at the end of this release.

Besides being entertained by top-notch musicians, attendees can also look forward to exclusive giveaways from sponsors such as Subway, New Urban Male, and, 98.7FM as well as obtain collective memorabilia like band CDs and merchandise. There will also be autograph sessions and photo opportunities with participating bands.

“The audience can definitely look forward to two days of wonderful music powered by youthful dynamism by bands from all over Singapore.  IGNITE! is a unique music platform that is distinguished from other music platforms like Singfest and Baybeats because of its support given to local youth bands.  In addition, the participation by VWOs certainly makes the festival more meaningful,” said Kelly Kuan, IGNITE! Festival Director. 

IGNITE! Music Festival will be held over two days from 24 – 25 July 2009, 4.30pm to 10pm.  Admission is free.  

The full line-up of bands performing is as follows:

Bands performing on 24 July (Fri) are:
  1. A Vacant Affair
  2. Caracal
  3. heregoesnoth!ng (RP band)
  4. Qovein (RP band)
  5. Juxtapose
  6. 53A
Bands performing on 25 July (Sat) are:
  1. The Great Spy Experiment
  2. Fatskunks
  3. Vertical Rush
  4. Trella
  5. King Kong Jane
  6. The November Iris
  7. Tacit Aria
Voluntary Welfare Organisations at the festival are:
  1. Children Cancer Foundation
  2. Community Chest and Youth Day Appeal
  3. Operation Smile Singapore Student Chapter
  4. Singapore Association of the Visually Handicapped
  5. TOUCH Community Services
  6. Animal Concerns Research and Education Society
  7. Bone Marrow Donor Program
Website: www.rp.sg/ignite
Hotline: 6510 3000

For more information, please contact:

Republic Polytechnic
Pandiyan
Tel: 3100 1267 / 9119 1836
Email: pandiyan@rp.sg		 Weber Shandwick
May Yong / Samantha Lee
Tel: 6825 8073 / 6825 8022
Email: myang@webershandwick.com / salee@webershandwick.com

About Republic Polytechnic

The first educational institution in Singapore to adopt the Problem-Based Learning approach for all its diploma programmes, Republic Polytechnic (RP) has six schools and one centre offering thirty four  courses in Information and Communications Technology, Engineering, Applied Science, Technology for the Arts, Sports, Health & Leisure, Events and Hospitality, and Culture and Communication. Republic Polytechnic is committed to nurturing innovation and entrepreneurial learning in an environment that develops problem-solving process skills and a life-long learning attitude. Its holistic, broad-based curriculum, covering culture, enterprise development and cognitive processes, prepares students for an active and meaningful role in society. Republic Polytechnic strives for excellence by achieving various international and national accreditations, including ISO9001, ISO14001, OHSAS 18001, TR19, People Developer Standards, Singapore Quality Class and Singapore Innovation Class.    For more information, visit http://www.rp.sg