IN JAKARTA
MUSIC with the most mass appeal in Indonesia encompasses everything from rock to pop ballads and traditional music forms, like the gamelan — an ensemble of percussion instruments.
But the classical music scene here has also been blossoming in the past few years. More people are attending concerts and more parents are urging their children to pick up classical instruments.
Jakarta is also home to groups like the Nusantara Symphony Orchestra and the Jakarta Symphony among others.
This week, one of Singapore's top classical acts, the T'ang quartet (www.tangquartet.com), will be adding their sounds to the burgeoning scene.
The group, whose “technical sophistication” and “excellent sense of style” have been lauded by reviewers, will perform in Jakarta and in Bandung.
Their concerts are part of Indonesia’s Chamber Music Series (www.chambermusic.or.id).
Co-founded nine years ago by European Leonard van Hien, the former country chairman of Jardine Matheson in Indonesia, his aim was to make the series go beyond just staging performances.
It was also to ensure that visiting artists – who were world-class but homegrown talents with established reputations – would interact with musicians and students here.
Singapore’s critically-acclaimed string ensemble will do just that.
Their performance at the Dutch Embassy's cultural centre in Jakarta on Thursday night will cost barely S$3 (25,000 rupiah) for students and $7 (50,000 rupiah) for adults.
It will be over an hour long, with the repertoire including Argentinean composer Astor Piazzolla’s Tango Ballet.
On Friday, they will conduct a masterclass at Sekolah Pelita Harapan – a well-known school with campuses throughout Jakarta – before going on to Bandung for another class with students, and a performance on Sunday.
The quartet, who are now quartet-in-residence at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, hopes to do more “arts mentoring”, said violinist Ng Yu Ying, 41.
This means working closely with budding artists – whether locally or regionally – to help them hone their skills.
“It’s an aspect of the quartet we’ve discovered can be a good area to venture into,” he said.
Together for the last 10 years professionally, there have been rumours that the quartet is due to split up, with viola player Lionel Tan, 43, breaking away from next month.
Mr Ng would only say that the quartet – which also includes violinist Ang Check Meng, 39, and cellist Leslie Tan, 45 - is planning to stick around.
“It’s one of our dreams, to be able to continue our craft until our old age,” he said, quipping that all four enjoy being in front of an audience too much.
Some changes are in the works though and they will be revealing their plans for the future at a later date, he said.
In the meantime, music lovers here – the well-heeled, students and those on a budget included – can look forward to some world-class sounds this weekend.