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)