Recent interview at L'Uomo Vogue magazine

This month (November), the Italian magazine L'Uomo Vogue features ASIA as their theme of the month, and they picked some figures from our continent. From Indonesia it was the pop singer Anggun, film star Raditya Dika and myself. They have asked the writer who happens to be my friend, Erza S.T. to write about Raditya and me, so he interviewed me through email. Naturally it was edited for the magazine, but here are my answers to his questions. This is not his complete interview, since some of the questions could be found in my previous entries in this blog, so I don't feel the need to repeat them again in this entry. .............................................................................................................................................. As musician and composer, do you think that Indonesia is better place to work compare Europe right now? What is the classical music scene like in Indonesia this present time? I answer those 2 questions since they are related : Yes, I think the future of classical music is in Asia (not only in Indonesia). This is not only due to the economic, political and cultural crisis that Europe is suffering, and therefore cutting subsidies for the arts (and those subsidies certainly will not come back when the crisis is over), but also because the Asian countries know better how to market the classical music for the audience. In the end, the generous government subsidies did more harm than good, since artists in Europe lived in a comfort zone, and were too lazy to come out of that. Also, we Asians are not bound by tradition, we can present it in a more innovative way without being criticized by the "puritans" and the music is somehow "filtered" and "tailored" for the audience, meaning that we don't feel "obliged" to present programs such as "the complete piano sonatas of Beethoven" but we know how to present them without being pedantic and academic without lessening its quality. When you go to a classical music concert in Indonesia, the majority, or at least half of the audience consists of young people, which is not the case with those in Europe. Also in my observation, instrumental playing techniques (at least in piano) is now way way more developed in many Asian countries than in Europe, proven by the many winners of international competitions coming from Asia. .............................................................................................................................................. What made you want to change from concert pianist to composing? To tell you the truth, my dream was always being a composer. But I studied piano (as any composer should study an instrument), enjoyed, learned and inspired by the music of Bach, Beethoven to Britten too much that I ended up playing them, and I became (in my opinion, rather too) successful as my career as a concert pianist. Since the year 2000 ahead, I started taking composition again and realized that that is my real passion of life. There is so much music inside me that needs to come out. .............................................................................................................................................. Tell us about your composition. It seems that are always elements of love, broken hearted, drama and pain. Are these elements that inspire you on creating a composition? Unfortunately, I realized that music (and therefore all arts) is a product of pain. The best music usually is written when one is in pain, and it alleviates the pain, it helps to heal the scars. .............................................................................................................................................. On the recent CIMB Niaga Bank opera gala 2013, we noticed that you finally created a full complete orchestra under Ananda Sukarlan Chamber Orchestra and becomes the conductor. What is the story behind it? Will conducting becomes your new career as well? The orchestra is in fact nothing new. The name is new, but what's in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet ! And that's the case of the ASO. In fact, I could go back to 2008, when I needed an orchestra to perform my second cantata, LIBERTAS. It was a chamber orchestra without brass, with a huge choir, if you remember. So I gathered my friends and made an orchestra, without a name. I continued performing with mostly the same musicians during those years until my last orchestral piece, "ERSTWHILE - A Communion of Time" earlier this year. Still without a name, an organization, a patron, a fixed management. .............................................................................................................................................. Now that Indonesia Opera Society (IOS) needs me to conduct an orchestra, I called my musician friends again. But apparently that's not the only thing IOS needs. It needs A NAME !! And so, after talking with the IOS founder Erza S.T, with some musicians and other friends, we decided to call it Ananda Sukarlan Orchestra, just because those musicians know me and my music so well, and I have got used to conducting them. They know all the twists in my music, they know its weirdness, they know that when something sounds strange they should just play it again until they get the feeling and understand its strangeness. So, if there was something new with the event on September 12th, it is that ASO will play other people's music : Mozart, Strauss, Offenbach etc. And they premiered my new short piece for piano and orchestra, Wagner's Restless Nights. .............................................................................................................................................. What will I do with ASO? To be honest, I dunno the answer. The musicians keep on being freelance, they have expressed their availability with pleasure whenever I need them to perform. I think in the future I will do the same thing that I've been doing, the only thing I can do best in my life: writing music for them that they are eager to do. As they never disappoint me with their playing, I will try not to disappoint them with my music. I know my music is not the easiest to play, but I gotta give them music that is WORTH studying, rehearsing and performing. They don't do it for money ; no, in fact my music takes more time to study and rehearse, they could have played easier and more accessible music, so they could earn easy(er) money. I love them, and there is no greater reward for a composer than musical friends who accept me and my music as it is, and even then still love playing it. And conducting will not be my new career, my passion is in composing. .............................................................................................................................................. What is indonesian government position towards art these days? The central government? At the moment, hopeless. Our president likes to write cheap pop songs, and care more about that than the country. But we have a new jakarta governor, Joko Widodo, who although his favorite music is rock music, is willing to support all kinds of culture and arts, since now there is money due to the process of elimination of corruption in the Jakarta government. Artists (and in fact, all Jakarta inhabitants) love him. .............................................................................................................................................. You told me once about your fixation to Walt Whitman and Benjamin Britten. Are they your source of inspiration? What is it about them that makes you interested? That's difficult to answer. It's like asking "why do you fall in love with this person and not with that person". Somehow something about their art connect with me. In fact, I learned more from Sir Michael Tippett, but even Tippett himself told me that my music, and personality, resemble those of Britten. I should add: without his genius, of course. But I also read a bit of Shakespeare every day before I sleep, and nowadays play the music of Joseph Haydn at least half an hour every time before I practice the stuff I need for my concerts. .............................................................................................................................................. What brings you to live in Bilbao? What is the classical music scene there? How do you like it compare to Jakarta? It was because I worked with lots of Spanish musicians when I lived in Holland, so that I decided to move there in 1998. Somehow I am more productive there, I don't know why, perhaps it's the weather. I live in the suburbs, and I always, as a ritual, take a walk for 45-60 minutes during sunset there. That walk is always so beneficial, not only physically ; it refreshes but at the same time sorting out musical problems in my head. I cannot get that in Jakarta, due to the traffic and the inavailability of parks or even just open spaces to hang around. .............................................................................................................................................. As a pianist maestro and composer, you seems to have quite glamorous life and meeting all the high society everywhere. Is this the reality? As a pianist, yes, but as a composer it is perhaps the most boring life for most of the people on this planet : being alone with just either a pencil and music paper, or a computer with the Sibelius program used to type the notes. But it is a nice balance, since as a sufferer of Tourette and Asperger syndrome I need time to be with myself, and only with the music I can understand and analyze my deepest emotions. Very often I feel much lonelier in a crowd than being alone in bed writing music. It is ok if I am lonely by being alone, but if I am in a crowd (and mostly when I am performing) this loneliness become unbearable. It is a strange thing that I suffer from being lonely, but I enjoy it on the other hand. It's a kind of mental sadomasochistic attitude. This is another one of the reason that I cut many of my performing activities. While my brain cannot stop being creative (I'd rather to call it as such, than call it being obsessed), mentally I can't stand too much being in, or exposed to a crowd. Being a composer really helps in keeping me mentally sane. .............................................................................................................................................. What is happiness to you? Doing the thing which is my passion, and being with those I love. Money cannot buy my happiness, but if I cry, it's better in a (at least) 4-star hotel room than under the bridge during a storm. .............................................................................................................................................. What is music to you? It's my life saviour, since it has helped me go through lots of difficult moments. I can even say it's my religion. .............................................................................................................................................. How do you promote classical music as part as Indonesian culture when the government still consider that classical music is a western country art? Simple: I just don't involve the government! I do it myself. I founded, together with several friends, our Yayasan Musik Sastra Indonesia (Indonesian Classical Music Foundation), and thanks to private donations we have educated around 100 children by teaching them play instruments for free. They are classically trained, but the repertoire is a mix between all those Mozarts, Beethovens and the Indonesian folktunes that I arranged for them. You can check about us at www.anandasukarlancenter.com . .............................................................................................................................................. What is the most challenging part of your life as pianist and composer? I always wanted to be a 100% composer, but after many years, I gave up that hope. I am, (un?)fortunately still highly demanded as a pianist, and even sometimes as a conductor, so the biggest challenge now is to lead a double, sometimes triple life! When I was younger, I performed more than 50 concerts a year that it was practically impossible for me to compose, since other people's music kept on popping in my head everytime I wanted to write my own. Now I limit myself, and always force myself to have a few months a year without performing, even practising the piano, so I can clean up my head and let my music come out without any interference. .............................................................................................................................................. On recent interview, you mention about your life with tourette syndrome. How does this syndrome effect your life in music? I belong to both the Tourette AND Asperger syndrome (TS and AS) sufferer, although the Asperger part is quite light, and only appear seldomly. It is common to have both in different degrees, since they are related. Some people have only one, and some even both with the same degree. People with TS/AS tend to be introverted character even from a very early age, so we are not interested in getting in touch with the outside world. (to continue this, please check http://andystarblogger.blogspot.com.es/2013_05_01_archive.html ). .............................................................................................................................................. Last question: what is a perfect dinner with you? An early dinner just before sunset at a beach in Bali with friends talking about my favorite things in life. It would be better if those friends were Plato, Shakespeare, Stravinsky, Walt Whitman, Andy Warhol and Mohandas K. Gandhi all in one table :)

A relaxed 'n productive week

Woohoo, it's been more than 1 month since I blogged! Here I am, back home in the hills of Cantabria. Last week (the 10th of November) we did something which was quite new and unique for the Indonesian classical music scene : with the financial support of the Indonesian Embassy in Madrid and the BNI Bank in London, I gathered 4 Indonesian young musicians who are in their last years in their higher musical educations in Europe, and we played together in Madrid. So, 5 of us played under the "Diaspora" Project, at the "Amaniel" Conservatory of Music in Madrid in front of a packed hall. We didn't only play music. I introduced 2 of them (guitarrist John Paul and violinist Amelia Tionanda) to 2 Spanish composers, David del Puerto (John Paul played his Nocturne & Toccata) and Santiago Lanchares (Amelia and me played his 3 short pieces "Momentos") so they could meet and work together. The other Indonesians were Grace Petrona (violist) and flutist Ratna Indira. And then I played some interludes of Jesus Rueda. The 3 composers came to the concert, and of course that fact alone attracted much interest, since they are the most popular composers here of today. It was a unique event, both for Spain and for Indonesia's classical music world. I also played 2 of my Rapsodia Nusantara, and apparently no. 10 (the one based on the Balinese song JANGER) captured the audience's interest the most, as I made the piano sound like a Balinese gamelan. Our ambassador, the lovely Mme. Adityawidi Adiwoso also came, and I am so thankful to her, and to our attaché Mr. Theodorus Nugroho and others from the Embassy who share the same vision about promoting Indonesia through its classical music. And, we all had fun, at least I had with the young musicians, and young people always recharge my battery. .............................................................................................................................................. Back home, I have 12 days before leaving to Mexico for some lectures and masterclasses. I am supposed to start practising Poulenc's Sextet for piano and winds these 12 days, since I am gonna perform it with the wind players of the Boston Symphony Orchestra next December, but I found myself too lazy to practice. Apart from that, some things occured and they gave me excuses to write music. One, is that our Indonesian Classical Music Foundation (Yayasan Musik Sastra Indonesia) is going to make a fund-raising concert at the residence of one of our patrons, Mrs. Pia Alisjahbana, on December 15th. Since it's near Christmas, we'd call it a "Christmas Concert". Now, I gotta think of a X-mas-ish theme for this concert, so I decided to write a set of variations on "Silent Night". This piece will be auctioned during that concert, and the highest bidder will get his / her name (or the name of someone (s)he wishes to dedicate to) printed above the title, when the music is published. You know, just check the scores of Beethoven's or Haydn's Sonatas or even Chopin's Ballade, and you'll see the name of the sponsor or patron of those pieces. .............................................................................................................................................. While in Madrid last week, the guitarrist John Paul told me that he also will perform in a fund-raising concert in Jakarta for the poor people in the slum areas of Jakarta, and he invited me to come. It's a free concert, but of course we had to donate something. Now,  I honestly think I should focus on my own foundation, also working with poor people, so I told him that instead of donating money, I'd donate a piece, for the same purpose of my piece written for my foundation. He will perform the piece together with the soprano Jessica Josephine Januar (nice initials, eh, that triple J) and hope someone would pay for this piece, which then the money would be destined to those people who need it. This piece would make a nice pair with my older piece for soprano and guitar, Twilite : By the Seaside. ..............................................................................................................................................   While the "Silent Night" Variations (I might change the title into something more fancy) took me a few days to compose, John Paul's piece was written almost instantaneously. I was coincidentally reading my book of Walt Whitman's short poems, and I stumbled (again) on a beautiful love poem, To a Stranger, and music just popped out from it. I remember last month I also made music from another Whitman short poem, O you whom I often and silently come, also from the same collection of poems. It was written for Nikodemus Lukas, the junior male voice winner of the national voice competition "Tembang Puitik Ananda Sukarlan" this year. He's gonna record a CD with many songs of mine, with me on the piano. Both Whitman poems were so powerful that I felt I didn't have to invent the music, the combination of words already produced the music itself. And I didn't even remember anything while writing them, it was like having sex : you just enjoy it and suddenly it's over. And I even wrote both of them in bed, so the comparison with sex is more appropriate, eh? Whitman's poems have that scary seductive power on you. If they were real people, I'd already have children with all of them. ..............................................................................................................................................    Ah I also finished my own Piano Sextet that I started on the plane coming back to Spain from Jakarta, a few days before our fun Madrid concert, which will be premiered with my Boston Symphony friends. It's a short humorous piece, a kind of Rapsodia Nusantara but for Sextet, using a theme of a Sundanese folksong coupled with Mozart's. Which ones, I'm not gonna tell you for now. The title is longer than the piece : Mozart's Transit in Java before leaving to Boston to meet Beethoven. And in fact, before starting the Sextet on the plane, I wrote a short piano piece for the birthday present of Lina Chan, a good friend of mine in Jakarta. The motif of this piece is based on her name: LINA (La(A)-B-G-A), and it has a very different character than my Sextet. It's amazing for myself to realize that 2 pieces, written only separated by a dinner, can have such different character. Her birthday is on November 10th, so I emailed Chendra my manager after I landed and asked him to give the piece to Lina right on the 10th. The piece took its character from a poem by Lord Byron, She Walks in Beauty, like the Night, which I read while waiting for boarding the plane. And it fits Lina, since she's a beautiful lady. You are what you eat, but apparently you are also what you read. So, not a bad month after all. .............................................................................................................................................. If you wanna come to our concert with the Boston Symphony friends, please just contact my manager, Chendra, at ycep@yahoo.com or +62 818 891038. The concert is on the 14th of December, and apart from the Poulenc sextet and the premiere of mine, we will do some duos and trios of my music which are based on the book "Metamorphosis" by Ovid, such as Rescuing Ariadne (flute and piano) and Niobe Weeping, while turning into Stone (french horn and piano). You can tweet me at @anandasukarlan if you wanna know more about this concert (or about anything else of my life!).