Although it is common for children to sing, youth choirs are comparatively rare in Indonesia. However, each of us can still remember a lullaby we learned when we were younger.

It is a pity then that although singing is a common activity for children, there are very few professional children choirs in Indonesia. This is what prompted Aida Swenson to establish the Indonesian Children and Youth Choir “Cordana” in 1992. The Cordana choir has two main goals: to be a center of excellence for professional children’s choirs in Indonesia and to represent traditional Indonesian music to the world.

Seeing a performance of the Cordana choir is always special because it is very easily enjoyed by all, especially children. One does not have to worry about sons or daughters falling asleep at this concert, because almost all children pay full attention to each performance.

This is because the music is transformed into a stunning singing and dance performance, with colorful costumes, brilliant choreography and last but not least, superb vocal skills.

This year, the Cordana choir is preparing to perform in Germany and Belgium to represent Indonesia at the 10th Musica Sacra Music Festival, from May 14 to May 31, 2010. Cordana has the honor of being invited to this festival, after their stunning performance at the 8th World Symposium of Choral Music in Copenhagen, Denmark (2008), and the Incheon International Choir Festival in Incheon, Korea (2009).

The theme of the Musica Sacra Festival is a celebration of sacred music from different religions in the world that promote peace and harmony.

To convey Indonesia’s religious diversity and culture of tolerance, the Cordana choir will feature music from different ethnic and religious backgrounds in Indonesia. Their masterpiece this time – which was performed at their pre-concert event held in Jakarta’s Goethe Haus on May 6 –  is Ummah, Sallih, a choral interpretation of the Al Araf, or sura (chapter) 7 from the Holy Koran by John A. Pamintuan. The performance opens with a muazzin (a person who performs the Muslim call to prayer in Arabic), chanting the holy verses of the Koran in the foreground. Then the choir, dressed in black with white veils and a tasbih (Muslim prayer beads) on their right hand, sings the majestic vocals, starting with a strong alto solo section in Arabic.

Then, some staccato acapella singing follows as a background for the solo. A choreography representing the movements of Islamic prayer (sholat) accompanies this piece. The movement stresses the majestic nature of the composition, beautiful yet full of respect, which represents the greatness of Allah.

The Cordana choir also performs a tribute to Javanese culture, as they sing Sinden and Ilir-ilir, both traditional Javanese folk songs. This time, a beautifully choreographed Javanese dance accompanies the choral music. The mood quickly changes into a more relaxed atmosphere, with a slow Javanese pentatonic melody. The singers appear in green and red kebayas, a traditional Javanese dress, complete with long scarves used to add to the graceful dance. The song Ilir-ilir is performed in a canonic style, as the parts of the choir start singing at different times, but then flow into a harmony.

As a native North Sumatran, Aida Swenson has prepared something from her hometown. The song Palti Raja, a Batak folk song by Tilhang Gultom, is performed alongside the flagging of the ulos, a scarf central to the culture of the Batak people. This performance is supported by a Batak flute and a gondang (a drum from wood). From the slow moving Javanese music, the mood jumps as the thumping gondang beat picks up. The vocal of Palti Raja involve a cheerful but very fast-paced pronunciation, which is not easy for the children, but the fortissimo volume is performed with perfection and keeps up with the vibrant dance.

The Cordana choir will also perform two of their favorite masterpieces: Rampai Aceh from the province of Aceh and Janger, a folk dance from Bali. Janger is performed using a beautiful geringsing Balinese dress, together with a Balinese gamelan and a male dancer. Rampai Aceh is a synchronized dance from Aceh, which demands not only a very strong alto and soprano solo performance, but also a challenging, ultra-fast dance movement. Seeing these children performing with a great vocal piece and keeping up with the demanding choreography will give the world a new perspective of Indonesia as a world of color and music, peacefully blend into a rainbow of cultures, yet together as one.

We hope that the Cordana choir will continue their mission to promote Indonesia’s harmony in diversity to the world.

— Photos by JP/Harry Nazarudin

The Chamber Choir of Asia is a professional ensemble of internationally-renowned and award-winning conductors, composers and singers coming together to perform contemporary choral music.

Towards its vision of promoting the ever-changing paradigm of Filipino and Asian compositions which are setting trends in the international stage, the group will have its premiere performance on 11 April 2010, Sunday at 6pm.

The group will be performing the world premiere of Robert Delgado's Asiana Vol 1 and John Pamintuan's Florilegium Op 6.

There will be 50 seats available to the public in this "by invitation only" concert at the Convent of the Sisters of Mary in Biga, Silang, Cavite. (around 15min from Tagaytay).  The proceeds of this charitable launching concert will be donated to the Sisters of Mary and the children of Boys' town.

Kindly contact John Cas at 0917 821 0916 for details.

Ms. Song is a pianist at the Pennsylvania Academy of Music in Lancaster. In August 2008 she was charged with creating a new music department, and to "...come up with a first project that would bring new sounds to [students'] ears without alienating them. The works to be performed needed to be interesting enough without being too stylistically or technically difficult. And the end result -- the performance -- had to make a statement, not be just another student recital.

"The Academy is responsible for more than 300 pre-college level students, and as her first project, Ms. Song prepared 16 children aged 6 to 18, along with two adults, for a tag-team performance of Cage's Sonatas & Interludes for Prepared Piano.

This was reportedly the children's first exposure to Cage's music. They learned first about preparing a piano, Ms. Song recounts, along the way being exposed to a kind of music that does not necessarily have a classical tonal center or regular meters. While skeptical at first, the participants were soon won over, and ended up revealing themselves to be children with "open minds and dedicated hearts".

The John Cage Prepared Piano Project was testing ground for a New Sounds Concert Series at Penn Academy, its mission "to create and nurture a need for contemporary art music in our daily lives." With its success came the formation of two new ensembles, both with flexible instrumentation, and a three-concert series planned for this coming spring. The second, performed by NakedEye Ensemble (faculty-based), slated for March 26, will include works by David Lang, Kengo Tokusashi, Luciano Berio, Louis Andriessen, and Kim Helweg. On April 18, the third concert will feature Barefoot Ensemble (student-based) in its first-ever concert of works by Charles Ives, Frederic Rzewski, Peter Hatch, Steve Reich, and John Pamintuan, this last a New Sounds commission for children's choir and ensemble.

But the first concert of the Series, scheduled for February 26, will be given by none other than Ju-Ping Song herself, Founder-Director of the Series, performing works by Cage, Stephen Montague, George Crumb, Peter Hatch, and Rzewski. In addition to her work at the Penn Academy, Ms. Song is a founding member of FLAMEnsemble, an eclectic and flexible group that organizes and performs in a yearly contemporary music festival in Florence. This year FLAMEnsemble's "Musica Esposta" at the Museo Nazionale del Bargello plans to include a non-stop "John Cage Day" on June 24, which, at last count, will feature nearly 50 works!

In addition to its regular concert series, future projects at the Academy include a biannual "Composer Portrait Series", commencing Spring 2010 with a live performance of Philip Glass's music to accompany a rare screening of Godfrey Reggio's complete "Qatsi Trilogy": Koyaanisqatsi, Powaqqatsi, and Nagoyqatsi. In the Spring of 2012, we'll feast upon an ambitious three-day John Cage Centennial Festival, featuring not only Cage's music, but also writings, artworks, and films.