Indonesian Children's Choir to sing its song in Europe

By Jules Bell

JAKARTA (JP): Luar biasa (outside of the norm or outstanding) is really the best way to describe the Indonesian Children's Choir and Indonesian Youth Choir, and no doubt citizens of Poland and Germany will share this impression.

Invited by the organizing committee for the Commemoration of the Outbreak of World War II, 32 children selected from the two choirs will perform at the Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw, Poland, on Sept. 1, 1999.

Sixty years after the commencement of World War II, the young Indonesian cultural and arts ambassadors will not only showcase the archipelago's wealth of traditional songs, music and dances, but will carry a message from the Asian continent; a message about the importance of world peace.

The Indonesian Children's Choir will perform alongside four other world-respected choirs invited to sing at the event, one of which is the Szczecin Nightingales. In addition, the choir's European tour includes performances in nine German cities, including Bonn, Cologne and Frankfurt.

Priska, 15, who has been a member of the choir for three years, exclaimed, "It is so great, I can't explain it in words. It is huge and a really great opportunity." She and Tigor, 11, the only boy in the 32 children, said they were both delighted to be going, but also a little apprehensive regarding the scale of the event. They are also looking forward to being reunited with their friends from Poland, whom they met when the young Polish singers visited Indonesia.

The group's director, Aida Swenson Simanjuntak, who founded the Indonesian Children's Choir in 1992 and the Indonesian Youth Choir in 1996, said, "My vision was to supplement what I saw as a lack of musical education in schools, and to help children and offer guidance." Today, the choirs comprise approximately 300 boys and girls aged from 6 to 19, from diverse socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds. The group performing in Europe, for example, contains children from Java, Ambon, Manado and Timor.

According to Swenson, it is important to value and guide the voices of children, and provide them with an opportunity to sing free from the economic constraints normally associated with a specialized training school.

"Somebody has to build a generation of musicians," she said, "not just from wealthy families. It is important to give the children an opportunity to sing."

She stressed the need for a correct introduction to singing when training a child's voice. "Why would we neglect this instrument?" she asked. "Guidance is important. The expression will be so perfect if the voice is ready."

Swenson herself not only brings her inspiration and love of music to the choir, but also her lifetime of experience. The daughter of A. Simanjuntak, a well-known composer of Indonesian music, she has studied music both locally and internationally in Switzerland and Austria, and holds a degree in church music and choral conducting from Princeton in the U.S., where she studied with the Westminster Choir College.

The reputation, dedication and skill of the Indonesian Children's Choir is evident in the singers' past achievements, such as a third place in both the folk and classical music categories at the 1997 Golden Gate International Children's Choir Festival, held in San Francisco, the U.S. The choir also won first place at the Seventh Japanese Youth Musicale in 1997, and they have sung with the prestigious Vienna Boys Choir and Szczecin Nightingales.

At the Chopin Academy of Music, the Indonesian Children's Choir and other participating performers will sing with an orchestra whose members are drawn from, among others, the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra and Sinfonia Varsovia Orchestra. The singing program at the commemorative event in Poland includes J.S. Bach's Dona nobis pacem from B Minor Mass and Leonard Bernstein's Chichester Psalms.

The choir's European tour is also an excellent opportunity to illustrate the depth and wealth of Indonesia's traditional culture and arts. Although the performers will sing a selection of Spanish and German songs, it is the traditional Indonesian performances that Swenson is particularly excited about.

"Usually children's choirs only sing," she said. "For the first time, we, or anyone else I think, are combining singing, dancing and the playing of instruments."

Included in the choir's repertoire are various traditional songs from Java and Aceh and from the Batak and Betawi cultures, performed with traditional choreography and music played by the children themselves.

"The children will sing and dance at the same time, and the expression of the songs really matches the movements," said Swenson. The choir enjoys introducing people to traditional performance arts she added, particularly emphasizing the depth of the music and the derivation of the dancing from the soul.

Dancing has been incorporated into the Indonesian Children's Choir only within the last year, with the experience and tuition of the Panca G. Nuesa dance school.

It is also very important that Indonesian children respect and appreciate the richness of their own songs said Swenson, adding that the children are very capable if they are correctly introduced to traditional music and motivated.

Choir member Sari, 17, who specializes in solo Javanese singing and dancing, exclaimed, "I am so proud and excited." Known as a pesinden in Javanese (a singer and dancer of traditional songs), Sari sings Bowo Sinom and Bowo Pangkur songs performed by a soloist with differing rhythms. The special singing style, which employs a unique vocal production technique, is both beautiful and fascinating.

The selection criteria for choir members includes primarily an ability to sing, coupled with motivation and discipline explained Swenson.

"Attendance is very important," she said, "as well as voice, musicality and character." The choir's director also emphasized an absence of jealousy in the group and the rigorous preparation schedule -- the children have practiced no less than six hours per day for the last two and a half months.

The Indonesian Children's Choir departed for Europe on Monday, Aug. 9, for a 25-day tour including a special performance at the Indonesian Embassy in Germany to celebrate Indonesian Independence Day on Aug. 17. Following its return to Indonesia, the choir has a performance scheduled for Sept. 10 at the Regent Hotel here in Jakarta.

Considering the quality of the choir there is no doubt it will do Indonesia proud on the world stage, as both performers and young cultural and artistic ambassadors.

"I think their voices are most beautiful instruments," remarked Swenson, and she has hit the right note there.