Experimental guitarist to stage here
By Franki Raden
JAKARTA (JP): The guitar is the most popular Western musical instrument in Indonesia. Almost all popular music in the West uses this instrument. In the 1950s, local composer and musician Ismail Marzuki was also popular as a guitarist. In the 1970s, the guitar started to gain popularity in Indonesia's classical music genre. Classical guitar courses mushroomed. Arts schools, like the Jakarta Arts Institute and the Arts Institute of Indonesia's Music Department also opened programs on guitars.
Today, Indonesia has many expert guitarists in pop, rock, jazz and classical music. Unfortunately, they only play guitars in the conventional way. None of our guitarists use the guitar as a string instrument in the artistic context.
In the light of this matter, the visit of a composer guitarist from Germany, Ardhi Engl, becomes quite important. He will present classical and experimental performances at Gedung Kesenian Jakarta Saturday, Aug. 8, and Sunday, Aug. 9.
What is no less interesting is that Ardhi has German and Indonesian blood: he is a grandson of Adinegoro, a figure in the Indonesian press. The 39-year-old Ardhi, who lives in Germany, started learning classical guitar at the age of 12. When he was 16, he enrolled at the Richard-Strauss-Konservatorium, a reputed music school in Munich. After graduating, he continued his studies with a Spanish guitar maestro, Santiago Navascues. At that time, he also learned composition from a German experimental musician, Stefen Wunderlich. After finishing his studies, he held many concerts and workshops. He also joined a gamelan group in Munich which performed recently at Gedung Kesenian Jakarta.
In his performances, he often plays his own compositions. Ardhi has rich experiences in music; he has been part of a folk music group from East Europe, a gypsy group, a jazz-ethnic group, a modern dance group and an experimental theater group. He has also taught classical guitar and improvisation at Freies Musikzentrum in Munich. In 1986, he established Munchener Gitarrenguartett, which specialized on the works of J.S. Bach, Manuel de Falla and his own works.
In his guitar recital tomorrow night at 8 p.m., Ardhi will play classical guitar pieces from the Renaissance era to the 20th century, including the works of John Dowland, J.S. Bach, R. Sainz de la Maza, Manuel de Falla and Hector Villa Lobos.
On Sunday, he will play his own work, Suacha-Hoacha- Klanggartenszemen. What is unique in his work is that it is played with an instrument created by the composer himself. It is an ordinary instrument which has been modified so that it produces new sounds.
Talking about his music concepts, Ardhi said: "As a guitarist, my music is based on the exploration of the instrument. Since the very beginning, I have been interested in various sounds, of which simpleness even widens the possibilities to produce the sounds. I am always stunned by the individuality of the source of the sound, which has its own world and has its own rules. I think, if the source of the sound is developed naturally, that is by following the rules (inherited there), it could produce beauty.
"In my exploration of my music, I feel that there is something (sometimes under my conscience), which relates the culture where I was raised, that is the Western culture, and the Indonesian culture, which is also a part of my identity."
During his performances here, Ardhi will collaborate with internationally reputed Indonesian experimental musician I Wayan Sadra, and American-trained composer-guitarist Iwan Hasan.