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THE Malaysian Traditional Orchestra (OTM) from Istana Budaya will showcase Malaysia's cultural diversity at the Malaysia Day celebration at the PICCA@Arena Butterworth Convention Centre here today.

Carrying the message of unity in diversity, OTM's performance is expected to be a main draw, featuring a unique blend of traditional instruments from the Malay, Chinese, Indian and Bornean communities.

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Conductor and music director Mohd Yazid Zakaria, 57, said being part of the national celebration was a recognition of OTM's efforts to elevate the traditional music of Malaysia's many cultures.

"This is the first time OTM is involved in the Malaysia Day celebration and we are honoured to be given the opportunity to celebrate this historic day with Malaysians through music that reflects our cultural diversity.

"Thirty musicians of various races are involved, including back-up singers. And we have been rehearsing intensely for four days to ensure the performance is of the highest quality."

Yazid said the orchestra's strength lay in the musicians' ability to read notations fluently, which allowed for structured and efficient rehearsals.

He said OTM's multi-ethnic traditional music was intended to embody Malaysia's cultural diversity.

"OTM uses more than 30 traditional instruments, grouped into five sections: bowed strings, such as the rebab, violin and erhu; plucked strings, such as the gambus, sitar, yangqin, pipa and sape; gong-based instruments, like gamelan, kulintangan and caklempong; wind instruments, such as seruling and serunai; and percussion, including the rebana, tabla and geduk," he said.

Yazid said OTM was the only orchestra that fused Malaysia's diverse traditional instruments to create a unique national musical identity.

OTM's 30-minute performance today will be accompanied by a multicultural slate of local artistes: Nor Zila Aminuddin, better known as Ella, Suki Low, Roshini Balachandran, Rezza Shah and Dabra Sia.

The opening act of the national Malaysia Day celebration is called "Rentak Tradisi Pulau Mutiara", a specially created showcase featuring three iconic Penang art forms — joget joghee, Penang Chinese opera and boria.

It will be performed by dancers from the National Department for Culture and Arts, Universiti Sains Malaysia's Adikarma, Guru Shri Arul Manikam's Indian dance troupe, the Teow Chew Opera Association Penang and Budayasar Boria Troupe. — BERNAMA