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.