School of theology develops experimental liturgical music

JAKARTA (JP): Those tired of the "conventional" sounds of the keyboard or piano in liturgical music can look to the Jakarta Theological Seminary for an alternative.

The school's Creative Music Group has been experimenting with unconventional musical instruments to accompany its choir -- and many are impressed with the innovative results.

The school's choir gave its first ever performances in two shows at the school in Central Jakarta last week. The concerts were a final tune-up ahead of the choir's departure for a tour of the Netherlands and Belgium on May 19.

The choir comprises 19 singers and musicians and two conductors.

The choir has turned brooms, bamboo, gravel, plastic water bottles, plastic bags and other everyday objects into musical instruments.

"All of us are free to explore our musical talents. Members select objects they find in daily life to use as musical instruments," conductor Gracia L. Simanjuntak said.

She described how a choir member who was inspired by the sound of gravel turned the common object into an instrument to be used in the show.

The choir's other conductor, Ester Pudjo Widiasih, said the choir was formed in November last year with the goal of developing alternative liturgical music.

"We are of the opinion that the musical instruments used in our religious rituals should not be confined to conventional ones such as the piano and keyboard. We think we should also use traditional instruments or simple instrument like we use now," she said.

In their performance last Saturday, the group performed 24 songs, including folk songs from Maluku, South Kalimantan, Central Java, Minahasa and Irian Jaya.

The choir showed their strength lies in their creativity and in the deft use of their various instruments. Their skill in performing the music compensated for the so-so quality of their vocals.

However, the performance was quite a remarkable achievement for a maiden show. The performance won applause from well-known conductor Richard W. Haskin, who leads the Indonesian-American Friendship Association choir, which consists of expatriates and local singers.

"I think they have yet to improve their vocal quality, but it was praiseworthy for a debut performance," Haskin told The Jakarta Post.

Gracia said the choir would learn a lot about performing during their three-week overseas tour.

The choir was invited to perform by Dutch missionary group Raad voor de Zending der Nederlandse Hervormde Kerk, which is fascinated by the choir's innovative musical ideas.

"The missionary sees the group as being successful in exploring local context for liturgical music," Ester said. (ind)