The birth of an Orchestra : my article at Jakarta Post

This is my article published at the Jakarta Post on May 4th, 2016. As usual, I post my original one, although the one appearing at The Jakarta Post was basically un-edited. Again, Bravo IYCO ! ............................................................................................................................................. THE BIRTH OF AN ORCHESTRA ............................................................................................................................................. by Ananda Sukarlan , composer & pianist ............................................................................................................................................. It was fun, funky and it was also urgently necessary. The Indonesia Youth Concert Orchestra (IYCO) performed their very first concert last Saturday, April the 23rd at Balai Sarbini under the baton of Addie MS. It was a performance long overdue, and the Jakarta traffic jam didn't hinder the audience who already craved for a high quality, both entertaining and inspiring, meticulously prepared yet enjoyable and groovy performance of an orchestra by (very) young musicians, the youngest member being 8 years old. IYCO met our expectations; in their young hands, the music sounded attractive, relaxed and even sexy. The audience in Jakarta have grown in quantity and quality, and that is why the capital city needs an orchestra like this. Young Indonesian musicians who play classical music instruments are also being produced in record numbers and their skills are incomparably higher than those (even some more senior ones) in the past, so they need a meeting point and a hub to develop their artistry and creativity. ............................................................................................................................................. IYCO is a project by the @ID_Camp and its founder & director Dewi Atmodjo, originally called "Inspired by The Master". They invited the writer of this article last year who is supposed to inspire dozens of pianists, and this year the "Master" goes to Indonesia's reputable conductor, Addie MS; since a conductor can do nothing without an orchestra, therefore IYCO was formed. IYCO opened auditions for all young instrumentalists a few months ago, and the respond was overwhelming, not only coming from Jakarta but from other cities --even islands. ............................................................................................................................................. If someone really understands the nuts and bolts of an Indonesian orchestra and its musicians, he is Addie MS. Addie is not a graduate from a foreign conservatory, which reminds me of our common idol Leonard Bernstein, a "local product" which became a national pride (Bernstein was the first American conductor whose musical education was exclusively formed in the USA). He had established successfully his own Twilite Orchestra since 1991. He didn't try -- and he didn't need either -- to implement Western methods of forming, rehearsing and managing an orchestra here. Indonesian issues need to be handled through Indonesian means, and he understands it. Those issues go both ways: the producer of the music (the producers, promotors and musicians) and the consumer (the audience). ............................................................................................................................................. As the orchestra's name indicates, this is a real Indonesian orchestra. Classical music, by nature, stems from a western culture, but it doesn't mean that it should remain western all the time. In fact, we can all see that its development is shifting to Asia, not only proven by the achievements of Asian musicians worldwide in quality and quantity, but also in the migration of many Western musicians to Asia looking for jobs. And here starts the main issue in Indonesia. If there were two concerts at the same time by two unknown musicians, a local one and another a foreign, most people would still choose the latter. The same thing works with the program: it usually consists more than 50% (sometimes even 100%) of Bachs, Mozarts and other (dead for centuries) Europeans, as if classical music is caught in the grip of obsolete structures and practices. The late great poet Wiji Thukul stated once: "This is our own country, here we are not tourists", but many classical music musicians have not shared this statement yet. We must do more than being reproductions of an artificially selective fragment from the Western traditions, imitating with a limited repertoire of the great performers of the past. Imitating great people does not automatically generate greatness. ............................................................................................................................................. IYCO performed classics such as music from The Pirates of the Caribbean, works by Johann Strauss and those clever orchestral scores of Leroy Anderson (The Waltzing Cat, Plink Plank Plunk and The Syncopated Clock), but a big chunk of the program consists of Addie MS's orchestrations of some Indonesian folk tunes that are now widely known due to their existence at every Garuda Indonesia flights. This is the exciting part of it, since most other orchestras in Indonesia mainly focus on the outdated routine recycling of repertoire consisting of the same composers again and again. Listening to IYCO is like bringing us back to the late 19th and early 20th century, when 80 percent of the repertoire played at concerts were fresh and new music. An additional value is that they are not stuck in just one genre of music. ............................................................................................................................................. Special mentions should be made for the soloists in the orchestra: flutist Ryan Limanto and cellist Fransisca Eleonora who excelled in their difficult solo parts. ............................................................................................................................................. An ideal scene in the future would be integrating performance and music making into the life of the primary and secondary schools, not as boring academic stuff but through sustained teaching of performance, improvisation and composition, connecting our musical heritage to early life education. Classical music offers a way of life that provides an enriching and satisfying alternative to the standardization of commercial entertainment, enjoyable as they may be. The sooner our musicians and orchestras grasp this essential concept, the quicker they will see the wonderful opportunities of making a better society around them. And this concept will be solidly integrated to the society when it is introduced as early as possible to the young people. IYCO plans to play in different formations, in different and even adventurous venues, and perhaps at different times, mixing genres and ensemble size in a single concert. Hopefully this will reconnect our musical practices to one of its primary sources of inspiration: childhood wonders of everything around us. ............................................................................................................................................. The road for IYCO is still very far, and it's not going to be easy. No matter what lies ahead, we wish them all the best in channeling their dreams, energy and endeavors to put Indonesian classical music on the pedestal it deserves.