Acclaimed 'angklung' school reopens<\/p>\n
By Kafil Yamin<\/p>\n
BANDUNG (JP): Children handed out angklung to the audience,
\nwhich mainly consisted of bemused Westerners. A music director
\nappeared on stage and told the audience that each of the
\ntraditional bamboo instruments bore a number.<\/p>\n
\"Shake it when I give you the number by a hand signal,\" the
\ndirector explained as he gestured the different numbers. Once the
\naudience understood, the director began making various hand
\nmotions. Audience members responded on cue by shaking their
\ninstruments and a lovely, familiar song, Petter
\nPat, filled the room.<\/p>\n
Excited audience members were in the swing of things after
\nperforming two songs. The director praised them for showing their
\ntalent as accomplished angklung players.<\/p>\n
The director's aim was to show that playing the angklung is
\neasy. Saung Mang Ujo, the angklung music school in Bandung, has
\nset out the goal in \"five Ms\": Mudah (simple), Murah
\n(inexpensive), Mendidik (educative), Menarik (interesting) and
\nMasal (suitable for mass play).<\/p>\n
The 10-minute angklung course was one of the performances
\nfeatured during the reopening of Saung Mang Ujo. Students of
\nSaung Mang Ujo thrilled German, French and Taiwan nationals in a
\ntwo-and-a-half-hour show filled with Sundanese folk songs,
\ndances, wayang (puppet) demonstrations and classical European
\nnumbers.<\/p>\n
European guests were enthralled at hearing their favorite
\ntunes played out on an unusual instrument. \"It gave it another
\nexotic element,\" said a Dutch guest.<\/p>\n
Then maestro Ujo Ngalagena appeared. Wearing the Sundanese cap
\nbendo and with a jutting chin, the 78-year-old guru greeted the
\naudience in perfectly pronounced English, German, French, and
\nMandarin.<\/p>\n
\"I am president of the U.S.A.,\" he declared. \"Here in Bandung
\nwe have U.S.A. -- the Ujo School of Angklung!\"<\/p>\n
He repeatedly said that he and the members of his school did
\nnot see their foreign guests as tourists, but as brothers. \"So,
\nplease do not see us as a mere tourist attraction. This is a
\nschool, just like other schools.\"<\/p>\n
He led the children's orchestra in performing several numbers
\n-- classics, folk songs and popular songs. Three children, aged
\nfrom two to five years, played percussion to add to the
\nfascinating quality of the performance.<\/p>\n
About 40 children took turns performing: dancing, singing and
\nplaying. It seemed the maestro succeeded in transforming the show
\ninto an arena of play for children.<\/p>\n
They appeared so expressive, excited and free, and offered
\nthrilling shows.<\/p>\n
\"I always tell them that playing music, singing and dancing is
\nnot for shows but for making themselves happy,\" Ujo told The
\nJakarta Post on the sidelines of the performance.<\/p>\n
\"You asked me about my method of teaching? I have only one
\nmethod: give your students love.\"<\/p>\n
Ujo Ngalagena has 150 students, with 90 percent of them
\nteenagers and children. The fledgling musicians of the \"U.S.A\"
\nhas performed on four continents -- America, Europe, Africa, and
\nAsia.<\/p>\n
With five to six months of study, the children are able to
\nplay various Sundanese traditional musical instruments and
\nperform dances.<\/p>\n
After one year, a young student can become an angklung and
\ndance coach.<\/p>\n
Some of Ujo's graduates have become composers. A
\nstriking quality of the graduates is their proficiency in foreign
\nlanguages. \"Maybe this is because most of our visitors are
\nforeigners,\" said Mang Ujo, as he is familiarly called.<\/p>\n
The young students are used to communicating with their
\nforeign guests. And their elder fellows have proved themselves
\ngood ambassadors for Sundanese traditional music and dance.<\/p>\n
Their school compound is a place not only for Sundanese music
\nto survive, but also to develop and penetrate other cultures.<\/p>\n
\"Angklung is now one of the subjects in some Western music
\nschools,\" Ujo said.<\/p>\n
He established his music school in 1997. In one year, it has
\nproduced thousands of graduates, but too many for him to remember
\nthe exact number. Among the popular ones is Daeng Sutigna, the
\nman who invented Angklung Padaeng, using the do-re-mi scale.
\nPreviously, angklung used the Sundanese scale da-mi-na-ti-la-da.
\nWith the innovation in 1938, the popularity of angklung grew.<\/p>\n
Another bamboo musical instrument using the do-re-mi scale is
\narumba, which is struck to produce a tune. Calung, meanwhile,
\nmaintain its Sundanese scale. The instrument is played in
\nSundanese stage comedies.<\/p>\n
\"Every creation of culture needs innovation. Otherwise, it
\nwon't survive,\" Ujo said. He added that local arts can contribute
\nconsiderably to global culture through constant innovation.<\/p>\n
\"We should keep creating, not consuming. That is what art is
\nall about.\"<\/p>\n
In his unique angklung school, this old man endlessly and
\ntirelessly creates, innovates and dedicates himself to art and
\neducation.<\/p>\n
The unrest last year forced the school to close temporarily
\ndue to a lack of visitors. With the situation returning to
\nnormal, the school has reopened with a renewed dedication to
\ngiving the world more fun through music.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/acclaimed-angklung-school-reopens-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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