Kuei works towards concert hall dream

Kuei works towards concert hall dream

JAKARTA (JP): Independence Day is still a month away, but
activities to celebrate the 50th anniversary of independence have
been going on for months. Some people have organized a kite
festival, some have written and published books, while others
have decorated their houses with twinkling lights.

Noted pianist Kuei Pin Yeo has already celebrated the
anniversary by participating in the Festspillene i Bergen, or
Bergen International Festival. This festival, held in Norway in
June, featured a number of solo piano compositions written by
Indonesian composer Mochtar Embut (1934-1970).

It was the first time that Mochtar Embut's compositions were
presented in a prestigious international festival attended by big
names in the arts, such as soprano Kiri Te Kanawa of New Zealand,
the Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra and the king of pantomime,
Marcel Marceau, of France.

"The response was really great and moving. I got a 10-minute
standing ovation," Kuei told The Jakarta Post. She had presented
Embut's Kamajaya and Iseng-iseng during her debut in Norway.

Kjell Wernoe, a manager of the Bergen-based Pro Arte
International Artists Management, the company which arranged
Kuei's participation in the festival, said that it was a delight
to listen to Indonesian compositions for the first time.

"An interesting acquaintance, which was met with warm
applause," Wernoe commented.

The concert was taped and broadcasted by Norway's National
Radio Program 2. The pieces by Mochtar Embut were selected as
intermission music in the evening's live radio transmission from
the festival's closing orchestra concert in Grieghall, the
concert hall whose name is derived from that of Norway's famous
composer Edvard Grieg.

Together with Singaporean violinist Lynette Seah, who is an
associate concert master of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra,
Kuei presented several of the works of Grieg' and other
composers, such as Chopin and Debussy.

Again, the audience's response led to several encores.

"Kuei's readings of Grieg's Lyrical Pieces Op.12 and Chopin's
Ballad Op.23 once again confirmed the impression of a very fine
pianist, combining a remarkable tone quality with an assured and
highly developed technique," Wernoe said.

"Well, actually it was so inspiring to play Grieg's
composition in the Grieghall in Troldhaugen, in the outskirts of
Bergen, which was once the home of Grieg," Kuei recalled. "And,
the hall is located right in front of a hut where Grieg used as
his working place. So, while playing the piano in the concert
hall I could look directly into Grieg's hut through the glass
windows."

Such ambience left her feeling very close to the composer. "I
felt really in touch with him, so I could play his compositions
well," Kuei said.

The next day she gave another concert with the Singaporean
musician at a church in Voss, Norway.

Kuei is one of Indonesia's most prominent pianists. The
founder of the Jakarta Music Foundation (Yayasan Musik Jakarta)
has been described by The New York Times as a responsive player
who has a perfect and firm technique. She has won several
international piano competitions including that for the Harold
Bauer Award and the Manhattan School of Music Concerto
Competition, the Gina Bachauer International Competition and the
American Scholarship competition, which earned her a scholarship
for studying music at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria.

She is also the first Indonesia to get a doctoral degree for
piano performance, leading to the listing of her name in the
International Women's Who's Who and Asian Who's Who.

Yet, she still has a dream that she wants to make come true.

"A concert hall for classical music in Jakarta," Kuei, the
wife of violinist Yap Tjie Kian and the mother of two children,
said.

Long line

Jakarta currently has only one concert hall which has
acoustics which can meet the requirements for presenting
classical music: Gedung Kesenian in the central part of the city.
Since it is the only appropriate concert hall available, most of
the performances take place there. As a result, those who want to
perform in that auditorium have to stand in a long line. Some
musicians perform in hotel multi-purpose halls, which can be used
for various purposes, from wedding or birthday parties to fashion
shows and seminars. Unfortunately, the acoustics of most of the
function rooms do not meet the requirements for presenting
classical music.

Due to the lack of appropriate concert halls, Kuei Pin Yeo's
students have little chances to perform -- an important factor
for those who are studying any musical instrument.

Kuei feels that students should be encouraged to perform from
an early age, so that giving a concert will become a natural
thing for them and they will become more motivated and
disciplined.

"Because we don't have our own concert hall it is difficult
for them to show people what they have learned," said Kuei, who
learned started to learn to play the piano from her mother when
she was five years old.

Her music school has now become one of the biggest musical
institutions in the country, with more than 20 classes, 60
teachers and approximately 700 students. Opened in 1983, the very
year Kuei returned to Indonesia after living abroad for 10 years,
and the year she got married, the Jakarta Music Foundation school
has now three branches. There are in Kelapa Gading in North
Jakarta and the Bona Indah and Alam Sutra housing estates, both
in South Jakarta. The headquarters is still at the same address
as when it was founded 12 years ago on Jl. Kartini Raya in
Central Jakarta.

"Actually in Indonesia there are so many rich people. It will
be easy to build a concert hall if they are interested," Kuei
mused.

Taking Bergen of Norway as an example, she said that in terms
of population, Bergen with its 250,000 inhabitants is very small
compared to Jakarta, which has now nine million inhabitants. But
even so, Bergen now has up to four concert halls with seating
capacities of 300 to 400 persons.

In Norway and other developed countries, artists who wish to
perform in a concert don't have to be bothered about preparations
other than practicing hard. Here, artists have to prepare for
everything themselves from the renting of a hall, promoting the
event, arranging for the printing and sending of invitations, and
even to finding a good piano.

"It can happen in Jakarta. I have noticed, however, that
gradually people are becoming more and more interested in
classical music, especially because now there are those who are
educated abroad and the appreciation towards this music has
strengthened" she said, recalling that most of her shows here
were deemed quite a success in terms of the number of people in
the audiences.

Lullaby

However, she admits that currently many people still consider
classical pieces merely lullabies to be heard before going to
sleep.

"Actually people should listen to them attentively because in
classical music there are details, phrases, sentences, paragraphs
and structures, so one should learn first to be able to listen to
this music," said Kuei, who considers music her way to free
herself from mundane concerns and express who she is.

Kuei gives a show here in Jakarta or in other cities around
the world yearly. This year, for example, after her success in
Norway, she performed at the end of June in New York. She will be
on stage again in Jakarta next October. She performed almost
every month while she was still living in the United States.

Performing is one of the things she uses to push herself to
practice.

"Well, the chance of standing still is so big, that's why
every year I target some new pieces to practice and to be
included in my concerts," Kuei added.

Kuei is also preparing to release two compact discs by the end
of this year. One features a Mozart concerto and another features
a Grieg concerto. Some Indonesian pieces like Jali-jali, a
Jakarta traditional folk song, will be included on those discs.

The compact discs are being taped by a Singapore-based
company. And to be able to meet the standards required by
the international market, Kuei is cooperating with an orchestra
from that country.

She said most Indonesian orchestras do not yet meet
international standards.

"If I can gather good Indonesian musicians, it may be
possible. But to gather them and to practice with them regularly
is difficult," Kuei said.

"And, I need an orchestra which has been practicing together
seriously for a long time so that they breath the same way and
play all musical pieces in good unity. Surely we cannot ask
freelancers to do this," Kuei said. (als)