Four Indonesian Musicians Show Traditional Music In Germany

JAKARTA - Dadan Budiana (kacapi), Endang Sukandar (suling), Djitron Pah (sanado), and Jeagril Pah (sanado) are four Indonesian musicians who recently amazed the audience, most of whom were German.

They performed traditional music at the Indonesian Cultural Night: The Sound of Indonesian String at the Goethe Stadt Museum, Ilmenau, Germany on Tuesday, November 14.

"Being able to present traditional Indonesian music and Indonesian songs in front of the German population is certainly an honor for us. Especially when we saw that they were very enthusiastic and appreciated," Jeagril Pah said in his statement, Friday, November 17.

The four musicians have indeed been poor across the road in introducing Indonesian music to many countries. They not only show their expertise in playing music, but also show a combination of western and eastern parts of Indonesia's culture.

Several songs such as Bolelebo, Jipang Lontang Dried, Catrik, Kunang-kemadang, and Bengawan Solo are their mainstay repertoires. In addition, there are also English songs such as Yesterday (The Beatles) and What amen World (Louis Armstrong).

Meanwhile, the event in Germany is a collaboration between two cultural organizations, Kuko eV from Germany and Nain E Visual production from Indonesia. They are also supported by the Cultural Culture Interaction Program (FBK IB) from the Directorate of Culture, Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia.

"One of the focuses of our organization is to become a bridge between the migrant community and the German population so that a good adaptation and assimilation process can occur," said Christoph Throne as Chair of Kuko eV.

We see that education and culture can help us achieve this. We hope that art performances like this can bring people from these two countries closer," he continued.

Meanwhile, Naine E Visual hopes that this activity can be a place of expression for Indonesian artists as well as introduce Indonesian culture.

"By introducing Indonesian culture to the world, we hope more people know how rich and diverse Indonesia is," said Agung Sumarwan, Project Manager of Nain E Visual.

For information, The Sound of Indonesian String tour took place on November 12-22 in several cities in Germany, including Ilmenau, Frankfurt, Weimar, Gera, and Jena. Apart from museums, performances will also be held in cultural centers, schools, and universities.