Benny Mulyadi Tanto: More than just a guitar collector

Benny Mulyadi Tanto: More than just a guitar collector

Harry Bhaskara, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

In the 1970s a young kid was captivated by Elvis Presley but less
by the singing style of the American rock and roll legend than by
the sound emanating from the guitar.

Benny Mulyadi Tanto can still remember the day when he got his
first guitar back in 1973 in his junior high school days back in
the South Sumatra capital of Palembang.

Nowadays, the 42-year-old guitar aficionado is not only a
guitar collector but a classical guitar teacher and player as
well.

With no less than 30 guitars now in his possession, Benny is
far from satisfied.

"More and more fine guitars are available nowadays, especially
in Europe. But financial limitations are my obstacle," he told
The Jakarta Post.

A good guitar could cost anything from US$2,000 to $5,000 or
even more, he said.

"Many are puzzled as to why a hollow guitar can fetch such a
high price," Benny said, referring to classical guitars.

In people's minds, he said, high prices should only apply to
electric guitars, which are solid and equipped with electronic
gadgets.

From his collection the more coveted instruments he plays once
in a while are the Jose Ramirez, Prudensio, Ibanez, Ovation and
Asturias classical guitars and Gibson and Fender electric
guitars.

"The guitar is not just a musical instrument. It is also a
very high-quality work of art in itself," he said at his home in
Tomang Barat Baru, West Jakarta.

His collection has grown in parallel with his stature as a
musician.

He moved to Jakarta in 1981 from Palembang and enrolled at the
Jakarta Institute of Arts, majoring in guitar.

As a student and passionate classical guitarist he has
performed at numerous concerts, both as a soloist and in chamber
ensembles.

In the absence of an acoustically suitable auditorium in
Jakarta, Benny has played at whatever hall has been available in
the capital since the 1980s, including those at the Erasmus Huis,
British Council, Goethe Institute, PPIA building, Jakarta
Convention Hall and Taman Ismail Marzuki.

At times he has played solo, duo or with a chamber ensemble
for TVRI television station. Outside Jakarta, Benny has performed
at Palembang, Semarang, Surabaya and Denpasar.

Upon finishing his studies at the Jakarta Institute of Arts in
1990, Benny went to the United States the following year and
studied at the School of Music at Chapman University in Los
Angeles, California. He completed his studies at this school in
1993.

It was during this time that he had the opportunity to perform
at a number of musical events in the United States and Mexico.

Asked how he stuck to classical music despite the relatively
low appreciation of it by music lovers in Indonesia, he said
perhaps it was because he had not yet raised a family.

"I tend to my guitars the way one takes care of a wife and
children," he said. "I shall keep on playing and teaching as long
as I can."

In June this year he launched a presentation of chamber music
with a concert staged by the Jakarta Arts Institute at Cemara
Galeri.

"I hope we can present regular concerts to music-lovers in
Jakarta," he said.

In October he is going to present a "three-generation concert
trio" with his two students, 30-year-old Kurniawan and 16-year-
old Putri Sastra at the Erasmus Huis.

Benny's teaching venues include his alma mater, the Jakarta
Arts Institute, Yayasan Pendidikan Musik and Pelita Harapan
University in Karawaci, Tangerang.

Apart from his formal musical education, Benny has also
clocked hours of master classes from numerous world-class
guitarists, including John Williams, Julian Bream, Julian
Byzantine, Michael Conn, Liona Boyd, Eugenio Gonzalo, William
Mattews, David Russel, Siegfried Behrend and Spanish flamenco
guitarist Victor Monge Seranito.

None of them taught him hip swaying as Elvis did. But Benny's
two tiny wooden dolls depicting Elvis, hanging in his living
room, never stop swaying their hips.

Until Benny finally acquires what for him is his most coveted
classical guitar, the Ignasio Fleta, named after the guitar maker
who died after producing only 16 instruments, his search for
guitars will continue.