Music education now an industry in Jakarta

Music education now an industry in Jakarta

JAKARTA (JP): In the 1950s and 1960s, music education was
limited to private tuition and a few music schools.

Yayasan Pendidikan Musik (YPM) or the Music Education
Foundation, founded in 1952 by a group of Jakarta notables, is
the country's oldest music institution. Today, under the
leadership of its director, pianist Rudy Laban who has held the
position since 1963, it has 1,400 students, 106 staff, a new
branch in Bintaro, and is expanding.

In the 1970s other music schools emerged to challenge YPM's
dominance. One of them was Yayasan Musik Indonesia (YMI) or the
Indonesian Music Foundation. YMI, owned by Japan's Yamaha Music
Foundation, introduced a radically different curriculum which
included introducing the electone organ as its primary
instrument. It has 140 branches, 31,000 students and 600 teachers
in Indonesia alone, and spans over 300 cities and 40 countries
around the world.

Today, music education has become an industry. This is not
surprising. In the last 20 years external factors have changed
dramatically. First, children's motivation to practice has
decreased significantly because of the rigid demands of general
education. Not only are they burdened with regular homework and
other compulsory activities, but today's parents often expect
their children to do extracurricular activities besides music.
This takes away much of children's energy. Second, what time is
left is wasted in Jakarta's murderous traffic. Children arrive at
music schools too exhausted for their lessons. Third, there are
so many forms of entertainment now that unless parents and
children are exceptionally disciplined, the concept of practicing
is in danger of dying out. Fourth, information globalization has
necessarily altered the face of education; one cannot afford not
to be informed.

In response to these realities, Dr. Kuei Pin Yeo, the first
Indonesian to hold a doctorate in music performance, has
introduced the multimedia approach to over 1,000 students at the
Yayasan Musik Jakarta (YMJ) or the Jakarta Music Foundation. She
founded YMJ in 1983 and it is now among Jakarta's largest music
schools. It has four branches in Jakarta and will soon open its
fifth and largest branch in Bumi Serpong Damai.

To attract students, YMJ has incorporated multimedia into
theory lessons for a year. "This will not only enable us to guide
students in their aural understanding, but also to tap into the
present generation's interest in computer games and CD-ROMs,
which renders music fun, challenging, and educative." she said.

Fun

Today's technique development follows the same fun-based
pattern. In the 1970s Jakarta's piano beginners did not have much
choice but to follow the usual John Thompson-Beyer-Schmitt finger
exercises. While they laid a very solid foundation, they tended
to be static and hopelessly boring. Nowadays, most music schools
use attractive, visual teaching methods that are less rigorous
and more fun. Especially popular are the methods of Alfred and
James Bastien, which have been around since the 1960s but not
available in Indonesia.

With access to material no longer a problem, the new game is
flexibility. The International Music Foundation (IMF) in the
Subud complex, founded by pianists Pujiwati Effendi and Halimah
Brugger in 1992, is an example of a smaller institution catering
to expatriates. To anticipate their return to their home
countries, there is no fixed curriculum. Instead, it is
structured more like a private course. The school's 200 or so
students are also free to choose their exams.

"We take liberties in choosing and combining methods, as long
as they are fun, comprehensible and suited to the personality and
technical ability of the student," Pujiwati said.

Vienna Music School in Kebayoran Baru has a similar structure
to IMS. It was founded by Cecilia Sutisna in 1982 expatriates'
children make up most of the students. With over 20 bilingual
staff, it accepts children older than five.

With piano still the most frequently chosen instrument, it is
interesting to see a music school, like the Amadeus Music School,
specializing in stringed instruments. Founded in 1992 by
violinist Grace Sudargo, the school - with branches in Mangga
Besar and in Cipete - has 100 students. Most reflective of its
success is the Capella Amadeus String Ensemble, founded in July
1993. It comprising Grace's best students and is one of the most
productive chamber groups in Jakarta and has held two regular
concerts each year at the Erasmus Huis since April 1994.

"My principle is to develop what is already there, and it
requires discipline and constant feedback. Capella members have
to meet every week, concert or no concert."

Another recently established music school is Gloriamus,
founded in 1990 by the Yayasan Gereja Kristus Jemaat Mangga Besar
(the Mangga Besar congregation of the Christ' Church Foundation).
While its starting premise was to nurture musicians for the
church's orchestra, it soon expanded into piano and other
standard classical curriculum. Its director, Helen Hosanna,
Gloriamus has what she calls a classical stream and a church
stream, with a special curriculum available for those wanting to
specialize in church music.

Despite the differences there are some general features. Most
music schools have regular master classes and workshops by
visiting musicians, regular in-house and outside concerts for
students and teachers, and, more recently, music appreciation
classes for very young beginners. Nearly all have award
scholarships for serious and talented students to further their
studies abroad. (Laksmi Pamuntjak-Djohan)