SonoSeni to stage collaborative works

JAKARTA (JP): Seven composers will stage their compositions during a collaborative hybrid music effort between the SonoSeni Ensemble and Japanese composer Takahito Hayashi on Sept. 29 and Sept. 30.

The show, which will be staged at the Surakarta Cultural Park's Arena Theater in Surakarta, Central Java, is entitled Suita 42 Hari (42 Days of Suita).

The seven composers, who come from diverse professional backgrounds, will try to find new musical perspectives based on new sources of sound.

According to the show's production manager Esha Kardus, the collaboration is also intended to challenge the musical perceptions of each composer and they are expected to take the collaborative work as a learning process in articulating a composition and reflecting even the smallest ideas or themes in a composition.

Although modern and popular musical instruments such as guitar, bass, keyboard and drum will be used in the musical exploration show, it does not mean the collaborative work will totally submit to mainstream pop music, he added.

"The show is expected to return instruments to their real purposes, as sources of sound that is free of any values," Esha said in a release made available to The Jakarta Post.

The seven composers -- I Wayan Sadra, Takahito Hayashi, Joko S. Gombloh, Rudy Sulistanto, Gunarto Gondrong, Ade Abdul Kholiq and Zoel Mistortoify -- will "take" the instruments and then transform them to create hybrid music.

In the two-day show, I Wayan Sadra will present Nyanyian Tanah (Song of Land), which will highlight Balinese musical instruments.

The composer, who is also a lecturer in music criticism and repertoire at the Indonesian Arts Institute in Surakarta, started his career in 1976 and since then has taken part in many national and international events. The winner of the New Horizon Award from the International Society for Art, Sciences and Technology in the United States has produced musical works for concerts, dance, theater, poetry, fine arts installation, and animated films.

Composer-saxophonist Takahito Hayashi, who has been with the SonoSeni Ensemble for two months, will perform Uzu (Inside), while Joko S. Gombloh will present Etc, Rudy Sulistanto Sang (The), Gunarto Gondrong Drumming, Ade Abdul Kholiq 33-17 and Zoel E-lae.

"Through this work we want to find music with Asian characteristics because Asian music, historically, has the same roots," Esha said. (ste)