Jakarta's child musicians relax classical conventions

Jakarta's child musicians relax classical conventions

By Yenni Kwok

JAKARTA (JP): The classical music performance suddenly lost
its usual stiffness.

Little children smiled, trying not to giggle on stage. Even
the older audience, mostly parents of the young performers, could
not help smiling as they watched the children show off their
musical skills. Laughter filled the air when a little boy and a
girl entered the stage, holding hands.

For the second time, Erasmus Huis, the Netherlands Cultural
Center, collaborated with the Yayasan Musik Jakarta School of
Music to display the talents of the school's youngsters. Last
Friday, 22 young performers, from six to 21 years old, braved the
audience to give their best instrumental performance.

The first recital was held last year, when Erasmus Huis
invited the school for a concert as well as a try-out of the
cultural center's brand-new Yamaha piano.

Most of the 19 performances were piano pieces. Some were
solos, a few were duets. There were also pieces combining piano
with other instruments: piano with violin, piano with recorder,
and piano with cello and recorder.

The string instruments were the hardest for the children. In
the piano-cello-recorder trio performance, 10 year-old Anthony
Jaya struggled with his cello, playing H. Purcell's Gigue. But
he excelled while playing Purcell's Rondeau on piano, performing
a duet with recorder player Hanne Widjaja.

Young violinists Mona Ariane and Anna Tamboto, who played a
duet with the piano also stumbled while performing their
classical pieces.

"The string instruments are difficult instruments. There is no
specific spot to hit the desired note. If we miss half a
millimeter, the sound will be different," said Dr. Kuei Pin Yeo,
the founder-director of Yayasan Musik Jakarta School of Music.

Another reason is the children's lack of experience. The
children who played the violins or the cello have only played the
instruments for about one year.

"But, after watching their performances, they were not too
bad, were they?" Dr. Kuei asked.

Despite the mistakes, the children kept playing, maintaining
their serious faces. And, the audience clapped encouragingly for
each performer, no matter how good or bad they played.

It was not a night of perfection. However, it was not meant to
be. As Dr. Kuei said, "We just wanted the children to enjoy
making music."

Simple

To avoid a far too serious night, most of the performed pieces
were fun and simple. Even the classical music pieces the older
students played were fun, uncomplicated ones.

For example, 14 year-old Shirley Hilsen played Frank
Schubert's Impromptu Opus 90 No. 2, while Prajna Indrawati
Kurnia, 16, entertained the audience with Chopin's Fantasy
Impromptu.

Impromptu is a light piece, with only one movement. It is not
very complicated, but still contains a fantastic emotion. As a
piece from the Romantic era, which was usually performed for a
social gathering, an impromptu was the right choice for this
laid-back atmosphere of this concert.

Amidst the dominance of western composers, 15 year-old Ferius
gave an Indonesian touch with Mochtar Embut's Kamajaya. The
piece, strongly influenced by Sundanese music, brought a romantic
and sweet mood to the audience.

The star of the night was Sri Wiyanti, a 19 year-old college
student, who closed the performance with Ravel Ondine. Learning
piano since she was six years old, Sri's piano technical skills
were superb, and her interpretation of the song was outstanding.

Her promising talent brought both proud and sentimental
feeling to Dr. Kuei, who herself is one of the top pianists in
Indonesia.

"Sri has studied music at the school since she was little.
She had played music even before she knew how to read letters. It
is a satisfying feeling to see what she has become now."

Since Dr. Kuei founded Yayasan Musik Jakarta School of Music
in 1983, it has taught music to children as young as three years
old. Currently opening in four locations in Jakarta, the school
offers lessons in various musical instruments, as well as teaches
singing lessons to children and adults.

Raising good, professional musicians, however, are not their
ultimate goal.

"We do not expect everyone to be a professional musician. We
hope that we are building educated listeners, who can support the
existence of the classical music in Indonesia," Dr. Kuei said.