National anthem 'Indonesia Raya' can be orchestrated ...
By Sri Wahyuni
JAKARTA (JP): Bogor Palace will once again make history. After the APEC forum last year, the palace will host, for the first time in its history, a concert by Twilite Orchestra, one of the few such groups in the country, which will present Simponi Kemerdekaan (Independence Symphony) on the evening of Sept. 9.
This is a rare event indeed.
"For the first time during the New Order period, an orchestra is allowed to perform there," said Addie MS, Twilite's conductor/music director. For him, it is a big honor to be able to perform "imported" music at the palace.
Simponi Kemerdekaan -- presented as part of a series of programs to celebrate the country's golden anniversary -- will include the national anthem Indonesia Raya and a number of other patriotic songs popular during the revolutionary struggle for independence, such as Sapu Tangan dari Bandung Selatan (Handkerchief from South Bandung), Bengawan Solo, Janger, Varia Ibukota and Varia Nusantara. The latter is a medley of a number of songs from various areas of the country.
The highlight of the concert is that for the first time Indo nesia Raya will be orchestrated. The version we have often heard is fanfare orchestra. According to the explanation to a 1958 government regulation on the national anthem, Indonesia Raya can be orchestrated, played by harmony, brass instruments or the piano.
Formation
Twilite was formed in April, 1992 on the initiative of musi cian/songwriter Oddie Agam and businessman Indra Bakrie. The idea to form this orchestra came from a concert by Addie's ensemble group -- at that time consisting of 15 people -- in Anyer, West Java, in 1990. The group was playing for a thanksgiving party hosted by Indra Bakrie. A number of guests, including conglomerate Sudwikatmono and former director of the state-owned TVRI Ishadi -- were impressed by the group's performance. The host then encouraged Addie to form a real, bigger orchestra, much to Addie's delight, for it had been his dream to have his own orchestra.
"Considering his (Indra's) enthusiasm, despite the fact that he is not a musician, I told myself I could not let financial constraints get in the way," Addie recalled.
Indra also agreed to reimburse what Addie would have earned from his recording and songwriting activities as well as producing musical commercials.
Thus, Twilite was established with Addie as its conductor/music director. It has 64 members and is supported by a choir, the 64-member Twilite Chorus.
Twilite managed to run for two years with Indra's financial support, although for every concert they more often lost money than not.
"We could not even reach a break-even point, let alone gain a profit," said Twilite's communications manager Alex Fritz.
So far Twilite has staged 38 concerts, both for limited audi ences and the public. Their concert at Bogor Palace will be their 39th appearance.
Four of the previous concerts were gala or holiday concerts, meaning they were public appearances whose financing and organization were arranged by the orchestra. The rest were bookings such as for birthday parties, seminars, product launchings and the BASF Awards presentations.
"We try to be professional, so we set a certain fee for re quested concerts," said Addie.
Holding gala or holiday concerts means losing money, although ticket prices are quite high, between Rp 100,000 and Rp 250,000. A similar concert in New York or Los Angeles would cost around US$75 (Rp 168,000).
Factors
According to Addie, there are a number of factors why a con cert costs a lot to stage. First, Indonesia does not have a concert hall with a minimum capacity of 2,000 people. Here, a concert is usually held at hotels which can accommodate no more than 1,000 people.
"If tickets are sold at Rp 15,000 each, we can only earn Rp 150 million. To stage a gala concert requires at lest Rp 350 million," he explained.
The Rp 150 million income from ticket sales is spent on the costs of building the stage which has to be removed after the show and which costs up to Rp 20 million. The orchestra also has to rent the sound system at another Rp 10 million.
Second, Twilite has to pay tax of between Rp 30 million and Rp 50 million per concert.
"Ironically, although the tickets are always sold out, we are always losing money," Alex added.
No less important is the lack of public interest in such con certs.
"In other countries, there are a lot of sponsors for such events," said Addie, who always tries to find time to go to New York or Los Angeles to enrich his knowledge on orchestra.
All these problems, however, have not discouraged him from keeping Twilite running.
"No matter what, we want Twilite to run independently. Unlike today, when we still have to rely on financial support from others," he said.