New Jakarta Ensemble to perform rare quality concert

JAKARTA (JP): Tony Prabowo and the New Jakarta Ensemble will tantalize local music lovers with a rare concert held at Gedung Kesenian Jakarta on Saturday and Sunday night.

The music of Tony Prabowo has been hardly heard of in Indonesia, despite the fact that he is currently regarded as one of the country's most prominent contemporary composers whose works have been performed throughout the world.

Along with the New Jakarta Ensemble, established in l996, Tony and his group -- choreographer and musician Epi Martison, Desmal Hendri, Anusirwan and Armen Suwandi and Musliwardinal -- will perform in the Art Summit Indonesia l998.

During both performances, Tony will be supported by famous Filipino conductor Josefino Chino Toledo, Canadian violist Stephanie Griffin and members of the Symphony Orchestra of the Indonesian Institute (ISI) of Yogyakarta led by Gusti Ngurah Wiryawan Budiana, also known as Budi Ngurah.

Tony and the group will present four compositions: For Strings Orchestra (10 minutes), Autumnal Steps (13 minutes), Benang Merah I (Commonality I) (20 minutes) and Benang Merah II (19 minutes). The fourth composition which will be performed solo by violist Stephanie Griffin.

These compositions are the result of Tony's long and dedicated work in the contemporary music world.

Born in Malang, East Java, in 1956, Tony's fascination with music was aroused at a young age. It was his father who indirectly introduced him to the world of music when he bought a guitar, but did not allow his eight-year-old son to touch it.

Later, he dropped out of secondary school to pursue a music career. He started by taking a guitar course in Surabaya and then took formal music lessons from the famous composer Slamet Abdul Sjukur.

By the l980s, he had composed music for renowned dancers and choreographers. Between l983 and l987, he worked closely with Laksmi Simanjuntak, and from l987 to l991 with Sardono W. Kusumo in Indonesia and in Japan.

He also worked with theater director W.S. Rendra in the production of The Ritual of Solomon's Children, which was performed at the New York International Festival of the Arts.

Achievements

His achievements include the score for the experimental play Blurred Vision, co-directed by Karen Williams and Tom Andrews at the Jakarta Arts Center and New York Theater in New York city.

In l990, Tony composed the music for Homo Sapiens, an installation work displayed by Teguh Ostenrik at Taman Ismail Marzuki Arts Center in Jakarta. In the same year, Tony was one of a handful of composers selected to participate in an international composers workshop at the Gaudeamus Foundation in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

His interest in film led him to produce music for various local documentaries and feature films. He also composed music for the much praised dance/theater production of Panji Sepuh, directed by Sulistyo Tirtokusumo, with lyrics by Indonesian poet Goenawan Mohamad. The play was performed in Indonesia, Australia and South Korea.

In addition to this, Tony also collaborated with two of Indonesia's finest puppeteers and a corresponding American artistic team in a tri-lingual (English, Javanese, Balinese) production which that premiered in Seattle, Minneapolis and Chicago in the United States.

Adila Suwarmo, Tony's manager, says Tony wishes to keep a low- profile despite his great achievements.

"It's common for Indonesian musicians to be invited to perform his works in foreign countries. But Tony is different. He is frequently asked by foreign orchestras and opera groups to write compositions for them," said Adila.

This was a kind of international acknowledgement toward the works of an Indonesian artist, Adila said.

Since the early l990s, Tony has been actively writing compositions both for local and foreign performers.

In l992, he composed A Tale Before Sleep, a piece for a soprano accompanied by a mixed ensemble, which was first performed by ISI Yogyakarta, conducted by Budi Ngurah.

This work was performed again in Amsterdam in l995, and later in New York under the direction of Joel Sachs, at Focus!, a music festival of the Julliard School of Music.

The following year in l996, Tony was invited to write another piece for the New Julliard Ensemble. He composed Autumnal Steps, which was performed in New York in December, with the solo viola part played by Stephanie Griffin.

From October l997 to April l998, Tony resided in New York as an Asian Cultural Council grantee.

There he continued to work with Stephanie Griffin, who premiered Music for Viola and Pre-recorded Tape, at the Ford Foundation in New York.

Also while in New York, Tony revised Autumnal Steps, in preparation for a performance by the Seattle Creative Orchestra under Brian Fairbanks in February l998. This concert included works by Bun Ching Lam, Paul Dresher and Lou Harrison. Upon his return to New York from Seattle, he immediately wrote Requiem for Strings (For Strings Orchestra).

Though specially written for the Art Summit II, he had the opportunity to have it performed in April l998 in an informal concert at the Mannes School of Music in New York under the direction of Vietnamese conductor Co-Nguyen.

Tony and the New Jakarta Ensemble, in collaboration with Chinese choreographer Yin Mei and sculptor painter Xue Bing, will perform at the Asia Society in New York late this month.

After that performance, the Ensemble is scheduled to remain in New York to make a recording of their standard and new repertoire, produced by Siam Records.

Upcoming projects for Tony include two operas with librettos by Goenawan Mohamad. The first one, The King's Witch, is to be performed by the New Julliard Ensemble at Alice Tully Hall, New York, in April l999.

In autumn l999, the operetta Kali, which was written in collaboration with American composer Jarrad Powell, will have its premiere in Seattle. (raw)