Ananda write 'musical history book' at home

By Emilie Sueur

JAKARTA (JP): Pianist Ananda Sukarlan makes his Indonesian debut tonight at the Jakarta Performing Arts and Theater International Festival 1997.

It is a coming home of sorts for Ananda, born in Jakarta in 1968. He said he began playing the piano for the simplest of reasons: "There was a piano in our home, and that's it."

His first piano teacher was his sister. He later studied with Indonesian pianists such as Soetarno Soetikno and Rudy Laban. He left for the United States to study on a scholarship in Hartford, Connecticut.

In 1987, he moved to Holland after he realized that he could not make his living from classical music in Indonesia. He now divides his time between Spain and Holland.

One specific aspect of the pianist is his interest in collaborating with composers to perform their work.

He calls tonight's performance "Child of Our Time" as he wanted it to be a "musical history book" of the 20th century.

"Since we are almost in the 21st century, it is time to look back through the 20th century," he said.

He considered this century to the most diversified period in the history of mankind. But for most of people, the last hundred years' musical creations amount to jazz and pop music.

This lack of knowledge pushed him into creating a brand new program. "My aim is to present the truth about what has been written in the century," he said.

Ananda has chosen to play 24 artists' compositions from all over the world. All are linked by two common points, as they were written this century and fit Ananda's selection criteria of quality and innovation.

He pointed out that innovation should not mean inaccessibility, adding that all the pieces in tonight's program were accessible to the public.

He realizes that he can not satisfy the musical tastes of every member of the audience. But his aim is to take listeners on a music jaunt through this century covering jazz and romanticism via minimalism.

Gedung Kesenian Jakarta is organizing the festival as part of its celebration of its 10th anniversary. The opening ceremony Tuesday was marked by the launching of a book about GKJ, followed by a presentation of selected choreography. Two wayang orang traditional theater groups, from Tejakula, Bali and the royal court of Yogyakarta, are scheduled to perform tomorrow and Sunday respectively.