Plucky female guitarists enthuse family audience

Plucky female guitarists enthuse family audience

Harry Bhaskara, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A man from the audience asked one of the female guitarists
peforming on stage, "Could I know your phone number?"

The 100-strong audience, who crowded the small hall on Jl.
Dempo, South Jakarta on Nov. 17, broke into laughter.

"No, my daughter is learning to play the guitar," the middle-
aged man quickly added, apparently sensing that his question had
aroused unintended interpretations.

This conversation, which reflected a parent's enthusiasm for
the instrument, was part of a lecture concert organized by Gita
Niti Para Samya.

Like any other guitar concert, the stage was familiar. There
was a chair, a music stand and a footstool. What was special was
that the performers were six young female guitarists.

They were impressive. One of them was only 14 years old,
another was a former winner of a regional festival and two others
were participants at a recent nationwide guitar competition.

"The guitar is capable of producing a rich array of sounds. If
we play with all our heart and soul I just cannot describe the
wonderful feeling I have," Parasari Kinasih said, in response to
a question posed by a member of the audience, after she played
Waltz Op. 8 No. 4, composed by Agustin Barrios and Sonata Op. 111
No. 11 by Mauro Giuliani.

In her performance, Raras was relaxed and in a delightful
mood, a reflection of her self-confidence and good preparation,
made all the more admirable because she is only 15 years old.

Earlier, Putri Sastra, 14, together with Meilisa Husein,
opened the concert with a duet, the Largo et Rondo by Ferdinando
Carulli. Putri went on with a convincing solo performance of two
pieces, Fantasia by Silvius Leopold Weiss and Sevilla by Isaac
Albeniz.

The other guitarists, Rita Kusumawardani and Clarice Vilodia,
are university students and semifinalists of the recent Spanish
Guitar Awards in Jakarta.

"Classical guitar is an entry to other guitar musical genres,
be it jazz or pop," Rita said, when asked why she chose the
instrument.

Meilisa, 15, played Vals Venezolano No. 2 by Antonio Lauro,
Allegro in A by Domenico Scarlatti and Cataluna by Isaac Albeniz.

"When it comes to playing on stage, anything can go wrong,"
she said, when a spectator asked her whether or not the guitar
was a difficult instrument to play.

There were a few technical slips when she played, an
indication that she might have chosen pieces that were beyond her
technical ability.

Lanny Astuti, the 1984 winner of the Southeast Asia Guitar
Festival, played five pieces including Endecha-Oremus by
Francisco Tarrega and Waltz by Manuel Ponce.

Tuhan (God), an Indonesian pop song composed by Bimbo, a well-
known pop group, was presented as an encore by all six
guitarists.

When the audience asked for another encore, the guitarists
gave up, "We did not prepare more than one encore," one of them
said.

Benny Tanto, a guitar instructor at the Jakarta Arts
Institute, was impressed by the enthusiasm of the audience. Many
of the spectators came along with their families. "It was a very
successful concert," he said.