New Jakarta Ensemble to perform rare quality concert

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)