YPM marks jubilee with concerts

YPM marks jubilee with concerts

Tania Budihardjo, Contributor, Jakarta

Yayasan Pendidikan Musik (Foundation for Music Education,
YPM), one of Indonesia's premier music schools, is celebrating
its 50th anniversary this month through October 2003 with a vast
plethora of concerts.

A few upcoming recitals will feature YPM students, famous duo
Iravati Sudiarso and daughter Aisha A. Pletscher, and prominent
pianist Jaya Suprana.

With the passage of time, YPM has increasingly become a
cornerstone of musical education in the nation. It currently
boasts around 2,000 students, a solid sign that more Indonesians
than ever are valuing music education for their youth.

The institution traces its humble beginnings back to October
1952, when YPM was born in a few studios at a building owned by a
women's organization in Jakarta.

Franz Szabo, a renown Hungarian pianist, took the lead as
YPM's first director. Szabo was succeeded by eminent violinist
Hendrik Tordasi in 1959. Four years later, Rudy Laban, a
respected pianist fresh out of a music conservatory, replaced
Tordasi.

The connotation of YPM is not only its famous faculty, but
also its highly successful alumni like Jahja Ling, Aisha A.
Pletscher and Idris Sardi, all of whom call YPM their alma mater.

Not all YPM graduates choose to solely become musicians,
however. According to Iravati Sudiarso, the school's director of
academic affairs, YPM produces many doctors, lawyers and even an
astronaut, most of whom combine their love of music with their
passion for other fields.

"They have sometimes two or three professions because they
have this discipline that has been instilled into their being,
through music ... they can do many things," explains Iravati.

Why does YPM work? Iravati says talent is the leading criteria
in admission, making it far easier to graduate than to actually
be accepted by YPM. Couple talent with strong personal
relationships between dedicated teachers, students and parents,
and one has a formula for gold.

Although YPM certainly has cause to celebrate, the festivity
can only conceal the year's worth of hardship. A flood in
February destroyed many of YPM's supplies and pianos, which had
been accumulated over the years. The catastrophe cost YPM
approximately Rp 200 million.

Nevertheless, YPM's path to a brighter future continues with
plans to move into its own building in Bintaro Jaya.