Bringing classical music to the young<\/p>\n
M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Sanur, Bali<\/p>\n
For many centuries philosophers such as Immanuel Kant and
\nFriedrich Hegel ruminated on the value of art in our lives.<\/p>\n
Many of their disciples still ponder the same question.<\/p>\n
While the scholarly debate rages on -- with no definitive
\nanswer to the question yet reached -- one woman in Jakarta has
\nalready found one: She believes music as an art form can empower
\npeople, especially callow youths, who might be at a loss about
\ntheir direction in life.<\/p>\n
Over the past eight years, housewife and mother Yayuk Rahardjo
\nhas used music, classical in particular, as a means by which
\nhundreds of young people can express themselves and do something
\nconstructive rather than take drugs, skip school or engage in
\nother acts of delinquency.<\/p>\n
An organization she helped found and now chairs, Indonesian
\nYouth Music (YMI), has recruited hundreds of talented young
\npeople from cities like Yogyakarta, Medan, Surabaya and Jakarta
\nto form the National Youth Music Orchestra, an institution that
\nprovides them with scores of master classes by respected
\nmusicians, and has brought them to the spotlight by staging
\nconcerts in some of the city's venerated cultural centers.<\/p>\n
The orchestra has performed works by Beethoven, Bach, Schubert
\nMozart and others.<\/p>\n
For other less gifted young people, YMI has given them an
\nopportunity to engage in activities relating to music in which
\nthey can explore the less glitzy side of performance art, such as
\nartist management, sound system management and promoting hard-to-
\nsell classical concerts.<\/p>\n
Scores of programs are designed to educate young people
\noutside the organization about the merits of classical music, in
\na kind of lecture concert.<\/p>\n
To nurture a love of music from an early age, Yayuk has also
\norganized dance and music therapy for children between two and
\nfour years old -- an endeavor she considers a success as some of
\nher students have become consummate musicians.<\/p>\n
Almost every weekend, her office in Kebayoran Baru, South
\nJakarta, teems with young people who immerse themselves in music
\nand other related activities.<\/p>\n
These young people also had big hand in organizing the 60th
\ninternational congress of Jeunesses Musicales Internationale
\n(JMI), the mother organization of YMI, between Aug. 15 and Aug.
\n19.<\/p>\n
Indonesia is the third country in Asia and Pacific to hold the
\nmeet after Japan and South Korea. The programs were organized
\ndespite their being almost nothing in YMI's coffers.<\/p>\n
As a member of Belgium-based JMI, which bars its affiliates
\nfrom engaging in commercial activities to finance their
\nactivities, YMI has had to rely on itself to keep its programs
\nrunning.<\/p>\n
In a country where the government is still struggling to meet
\nthe basic needs of its population, subsidization is YMI's last
\npriority, as a budget for cultural activities is indeed hard to
\ncome by.<\/p>\n
\"What we have is only our creativity and labor. We have put
\nthem to maximum use to gain resources that we need for running
\nour programs,\" Yayuk told The Jakarta Post on the sidelines of
\nthe JMI congress on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Ever since its establishment, YMI has depended solely on
\nsponsorship to support its programs.<\/p>\n
Such a budget constraint has prompted YMI to rely on word of
\nmouth recommendation as its means of advertisement, even when it
\nstages a major classical concert.<\/p>\n
YMI also promotes its programs via what it terms role models.
\nMembers who have devoted most of their time to the organization
\nearn the praise of being role models for other members.<\/p>\n
One of these is a former drug addict who is now in charge of a
\ngreat deal of YMI's activities. Another is a young graphic
\ndesigner who served as the YMI representative at the JMI meet.<\/p>\n
\"They are two of our most active volunteers, and devoted most
\nof their time to YMI; they were more than happy to be given such
\na big responsibility,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Yayuk's endeavor was born out of a firm belief that if
\nnurtured from an early stage, music could provide people with an
\nethical foundation.<\/p>\n
The mother of three has no interest in teaching music for
\nadults, whom she considers morally corrupt, beyond redemption.
\nWhat gave rise to such a conviction -- or disillusionment -- was
\na bitter experience that she had while witnessing the demise of
\nher public relations company from the misdemeanors of
\nirresponsible clients, mostly large companies.<\/p>\n
\"In the wake of the economic crisis in the late 1990s, my
\ncompany could have remained intact if those companies had not
\nreneged on their pledges. They used the economic crisis as an
\nexcuse to avoid meeting their obligations to us; I knew that
\nsomething was gravely wrong with how the businesses were run and
\nI believe that music could right that wrong,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Having grown up in a musical family, her background merely
\nhardened Yayuk's resolve to resort to music to deal with the
\ncallousness of life.<\/p>\n
Her father was a professional musician who played saxophone in
\na jazz band, and introduced jazz and classical music to her early
\nin life.<\/p>\n
However, her father's occupation as a full-time artist limited
\nthe opportunities for Yayuk and her seven siblings to live a
\nlavish life.<\/p>\n
Yayuk's mother was a teacher who was very strict in setting a
\nmusical standard for her children. She allowed them to listen
\nonly to classical music and jazz in her home.<\/p>\n
\"But unlike my mother, I have let my children decide what type
\nof music they want to listen to -- whether rock, jazz or hip-hop,
\nas long as they know how to appreciate it,\" she said.<\/p>",
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