Concert and a Celebration of Friends and Family

Last Saturday night, I had the privilege to attend Avip Priatna's last of the "50 Years of Blessings" concert series at the Kertanegara Recital Hall (Balai Resital Kertanegara) in Kebayoran Baru, and in my opinion, this could be one of Avip's most intimate concerts he has ever given during his tenure as the artistic director and principal conductor of the award-winning Batavia Madrigal Singers (BMS).

Criticism vs. Pride

During my stay in Yogyakarta (and I'll be flying back to Jakarta this Thursday), I heard many interesting stories from my mentor, Asep Hidayat. Quite a quirky fellow whose passion for music remains undiluted. He told me of a story about how he was playing first chair cello in a fairly well-known orchestra in Jakarta. During one of the rehearsals, he was constantly distracted by the conductor's audible foot-tapping.

Too many music schools, too little collaboration?

Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, is swamped with many music schools. On the one hand, access to music learning has become easier, and both parents and prospective students can shop around, looking for places that suit their needs and meet their expectations. Even my boyfriend's close friend is soft-launching her new music school in a few months, in a fairly densely populated area where there are already four or five existing music schools.

So Long 2014!

To my dear reader, I wish you a happy new year! Let's celebrate the festivity with music!

Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 by Johann Sebastian Bach

Münchener Bach Orchester | Karl Richter

Diction

Howdy!

Singing has never been my forte, ever, and sometimes I wish I could sing half as good as the worst singer ever featured on the latest season of Indonesian Idol. My singing voice just grates like badly manicured nails on a blackboard while a 1,000-pound manatee is giving birth, but at least I like to think that I /ɪˈnʌnsiˌeɪt/ my words properly. But no, really... I wish I wasn't so inept at singing because I absolutely adore listening to art songs and operas (I could spend all day listing my favorite ones but that will be for another future post).

The Overture

This post is written as a response to Michael Mulyadi's post about music schools that are in danger of losing their students. After having lived in Jakarta for a year as a music teacher and répétiteur, I noticed a trend that may answer a few lingering questions at hand and how it would lead to a decline of music education in Indonesia if not remedied quickly.