Bach highlights Yogyakarta music fest

The Jakarta Post , Yogyakarta,  Fri, 11/07/2008

Alongside Mozart and Beethoven, Johann Sebastian Bach is one of Europe's most famous composers.

J.S. Bach (1685-1850) was a virtuoso organist who was famous throughout Germany even during his lifetime, a fame which only a few famous classic composers equaled.

Bach served as a court musician in various German cities, his most famous post probably being as cantor and director of music in Leipzig.

Some of his most prominent works include The Brandenburg Concertos, Well-Tempered Piano and Art of Fugue.

Johann Sebastian Bach was not the only Bach that changed the world of classical music. He was part of a whole dynasty of Bachs, living between the 16th and 19th century in the Thuringia-Saxon area in the southeast of Germany, that included an astonishing number of musicians, cantors, organ players, court musicians and composers.

The first was J.S. Bach's grandfather, Christoph Bach (1613-1661). Other members include his four sons. Carl Philip Emanuel Bach, who became known for his "sensitive style", and Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, who are the two nationally and internationally recognized Bach brothers. The other two's reputation was more on a local level.

These facts are reason enough for six outstanding musicians from Germany to make the Bach dynasty the theme for their first German-Indonesian Music Festival for classical music, held between Nov. 5 and 8, in Yogyakarta.

In addition to playing pieces composed by Johann Sebastian Bach, less well-known music by his four sons will be played as well.

The first German-Indonesian Music Festival for classical music is being organized by the ART+ Foundation (a German-Cambodian NGO which is mainly active in advancing western classical music in Cambodia) in cooperation with its Indonesian partner, Tembi House of Culture. The festival is also being supported by the German Goethe Institute in Jakarta.

The ART+ Foundation previously has organized five such festivals in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh before it decided to extended its field of work to include Indonesia.

Each year the theme changes, following one of their main aims; to educate people about western classical music.

In Cambodia, the Classical Music Festival has become one of the main annual social events in the capital, counting ministers, ambassadors and interested people from all walks of life among its audiences.

The work of the ART+ Foundation in Cambodia also includes providing music lessons to local music students. Because time is limited in Yogyakarta, music lessons will be held in the form of three workshops at Gadjah Mada University.

Gadjah Mada University, in addition to the Tembi House of Culture will also become venues to watch and listen to the concerts.

A small chamber orchestra, including Anna-Theresa Steckel on the violin (who is currently studying at the prestigious Hanns Eisler Music Academy in Berlin); Stephan Rahn, one of Germany's promising piano players and a lecturer at Hanns Eisler Music Academy; and Julian Steckel, prize winner of many international cello competitions.

Others include Anton Isselhardt, Cambodia's country-director of the ART+ foundation and ex-flutist at the State Philharmonic Orchestra, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany; Valentin Steckel, who is currently employed as the principal violist in the Sound Forum of Central Europe; and Friedrich Kleinknecht, an ex-member of the Leopolder String Quartet.

Musical skills of all six members promise to make each of their concerts an unforgettable experience. Lovers of classical music will not be disappointed.

It is hoped that the first German-Indonesian Music Festival for classical music will become a regular event in the artistic agenda of Yogyakarta, providing both music students and the Yogyakarta community with the opportunity to experience and enjoy western classical music.

Concerts will be held on three evenings from Nov. 6 through to Nov. 8, starting at 7 p.m.. The first two concerts will be held at the auditorium of Gadjah Mada University's School of Medicine. The third concert will be held at Tembi House of Culture on Jalan Parangtritis. Entrance to the concerts is free of charge.

For further information, check out www.tembi.org or call 0274-368 000.