How about a night of classical music

JAKARTA (JP): A series of classical vocal music concerts, dedicated to 500 years of music ranging from the Renaissance to Broadway, will take place at The Dharmawangsa in South Jakarta starting on Friday, Oct. 22.

The series is entitled Bel Canto, or beautiful song in Italian, a term that describes the singing style popularized across Europe in the 18th century when great value was placed upon the dynamic beauty of the human voice.

The series of eight concerts will be opened by The Batavia Madrigal Singers presenting a Romantic Evening of German Liederabend -- Schubert, Schumann, Brahms on Friday.

The Batavia Madrigal Singers' core members are graduates of Parahyangan University in Bandung who live in Jakarta. The University and the Singers have the same conductor, Avip Priatna, who took the Parahyangan Choir on its successful tour to the Netherlands and Italy a couple of years ago.

The concerts, which are scheduled to end in May next year, will then continue with The Jakarta Singers, who will make their debut performance, An Evening at the Opera, under the direction of Tommy Prabowo on Nov. 26.

Comprising of members from different countries, including Britain, America, Australia, France, Japan, China and Indonesia, The Jakarta Singers share a common love of vocal music with which they hope to entertain opera music lovers here.

On Dec. 17, The Christmas Concert by The St. Cecilia Choir, one of the oldest choral ensembles in Jakarta, will perform a blend of various Christmas and holiday pieces with Tommy Prabowo as one of the three performing conductors.

Renaissance music, Love and Marriage -- 16th Century English Madrigals and Folk Songs, will be performed on Feb. 12 next year by The Parahyangan Catholic University Choir with Avip Priatna as conductor. The Batavia Madrigal Singers will appear for the second time on March 3 with three top sopranos in A Soiree Francaise -- Renaissance to the Modern Period of French Art Songs featuring Faure, Gounod, Bizet, Debussy and Ravel.

An Anthology of Musicals -- From Broadway to Disneyland will be the theme for the next concert on April 1 presented by The St. Cecilia Choir, while the Batavia Madrigal Singers are scheduled to appear alongside seven renowned soloists on April 25 for the Millennium Opera Gala Night.

The run of concerts will end with An Evening At Broadway on May 19 featuring The Jakarta Singers. (ste)