By Benny YP Siahaan
What are you going to do if the devil (Dedemit) is in the room? Run or scream right? But the people at
Carnegie Hall that night in silence, stayed, and enjoyed it.
In collaboration with Indonesian Consulate
General in New York, Jaya Suprana together with his current and former students
held a concert titled The Indonesia Pusaka at Weill Recital Hall, Carnegie
Hall, New York on Oct 20, 2015.
The concert features 12 young Indonesian
pianists, mostly from Jaya Suprana School of Performing Arts, Jakarta.
Locals and Indonesian diaspora from New
York and surrounding cities packed the 268-seat hall. Desra Percaya Indonesian
ambassador to UN, former Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro and several
members of diplomatic circles in New York were also seen attending the concert.
In her opening remarks read by Indonesian
Ambassador to US B. Bowoleksono, Indonesian Minister for Foreign Affairs
Retno Marsudi congratulates Jaya Suprana for his effort in promoting Indonesia
to the world trough arts and culture.
She also underlines the importance of
cultural diplomacy in promoting Indonesia’s State philosophy, Bhinneka Tunggal Ika (one out of many).
Bedhaya, the sacred dance from Central
Java, kicked off the show performed by eight female dancers symbolizing various
acts of adolescence girls.
The centerpiece of the show was the piano
concert which featured among others Jesslyn Handoko, Evelyn Abidin, Randy Ryan,
Ryan Ferguson, Gabriela Handoko, Viona Sanjaya, and Gillian Gani.
Whist Suprana informatively yet
entertainingly explains each of his compositions and introducing the pianists
who are mostly in their teens except Jesslyn Handoko, age 9. All the performers
are award winning pianists and have performed in other world class stages like
Sydney Opera House.
They played Suprana’s favorite
compositions like Tri Reminiskenza, For Ayla III & XI, Aforisma
& Geguritan, For Ayla IV, Fantasi Arum Dalu, Sonata Sekar Setaman, Fragment Dolanan, Variasi Gethuk, Aforisma,
Rhapsodia Lir-Ilir, Uro-uro and Dedemit.
The audience seemed
to drift in the inner emotion of each composition, from cheerful and witty
(Fantasy Arum Dalu), romantic (For Ayla) to melancholy (Aforisma).
Hendrata Prasetya performed the
pinnacle of the concert by playing “Dedemit” (devil) composition. Suprana said
that Dedemit is the most difficult composition he has ever made.
He even asked the technician to dim the
lighting to create a creepy atmosphere. Yet Hendratta played it beautifully. It
was crisp with beautiful control of the delicate repertoire.
The last part of the show, the audience
heard Armonia Choir who performed Javanese traditional folk songs like Manuk Dadali and Jali-Jali as well as a special song composed
by Suprana for the event called Indonesia.
The concert drew a mixed review. Joseph
from Italy said that the piano concert was superb. He was so
entertained by the young talented Indonesian pianists. Eugene from
Singapore said that he was so surprised that he never heard of Jaya Suprana.
Lukewarm comments mostly went to dance and
choir performances which they said that the performers need more practice to
meet the high standard and reputation of Carnegie Hall.
In general, what spectators most
appreciate was the piano concert. Some of the audience even said that without
dance and choir the recital would be more focused and beautiful. Even some said
the choir became the anticlimax of Hendrata’s excellent performance.
According to Suprana, with more Indonesian
artists perform in world class stages like Carnegie Hall, he hopes that it will
make more Indonesian young talents get worldwide recognition.
And surely this concert was a great
opportunity to grow, to nurture their already innate talents to the next level,
to even greater heights”, he adds.
Indeed, with their splendid performance,
they showed us a hint of the direction they are heading.
All in all, it was an entertaining event.
New York, October 2015
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