About two weeks ago, my friends and I organised a concert dedicated to those affected by the Wasior, Mentawai, and Merapi disasters. The concert, Angklung Charity Concert: “Bamboo in Harmony”, was first initiated by teh Desiree, who was a member of an angklung group years ago, and was led by our lovely conductor, teh Ida Soesanti.
Read the first part of this posting. I remember one day at a hotel in Jeddah, there was a group of Indonesian Hajj pilgrims chatting and sitting in a lounge. I was walking towards the lounge, when suddenly Haifa Wehbe‘s video clip Ya Hayat Alby was shown on TV (watch it! so you know what I’m talking about 😛 ). I saw everyone watching the clip with a SURPRISE look. One of the men commented, “Oh my God! Do ArabsRead more
People in Indonesia have a common misconception about Arabic music. They think that Arabic music is always composed for religious use. This is not true. Like Indonesian and Western music, Arabic music is composed of various themes, including love (mostly!!). Speaking of Arabic music… well, my childhood life was basically surrounded by Arabic music. Both of my parents — having to live in Egypt for 11 years — are fans of classical Arabic music. And honestly, that’s the only musicRead more