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)