Performing Indonesia: Islamic Intersections, our third festival of Indonesian music, dance, and theater, celebrates the many manifestations of Islamic culture in the island nation, which is home to more Muslims than any other country. We’re interviewing some of the more than eighty musicians, dancers and other performing artists who will appear throughout the festival’s run. Tricia Sumarijanto is a leading ambassador for the music of angklung, which UNESCO has named intangible cultural heritage from Indonesia. She also is cofounder of Rumah Indonesia and conductor of the House of Angklung, which will perform at Music from Sulawesi and West Java this Saturday.
Tell me a bit about your personal history with Indonesian music.
My musical interest started quite early, focusing on the piano, organ, and angklung. As part of a Javanese family living in the capital city, I did not really listen to Indonesian traditional music. The angklung is the only traditional Indonesian instrument I play. I first played it when I was in elementary school as part of music class. I think most schools in Indonesia teach students to play the angklung because it is such an easy and fun instrument.
I didn’t play the instrument again until I came to the United States in 2007. The House of Angklung (known back then as Rumpun Wargi Pasundan) was looking for a new conductor when someone heard me playing piano in a friend’s house. I was asked to be their teacher, and I accepted.
Since 2009, I have been the music arranger and conductor of House of Angklung. We have become a solid community group and have performed in many different cities and states.
Why do you work to introduce American audiences to angklung music?
The House of Angklung participated in a 2011 Guinness World Records event at the Washington Monument, where more than 5,100 people played angklung together. The experience opened my eyes to the fact that the angklung is an effective tool for introducing Indonesia to the American people.
My most recent programming, Angklung Goes to School, promotes Indonesia in general and angklung in particular to a younger generation of Americans by bringing education on the instrument to schools and universities. With the support of House of Angklung and the Indonesian Embassy, the program is now active in DC, Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania, and it will soon arrive in Wisconsin and North Carolina. In the DMV and Philadelphia, the program has already reached more than 2,000 students. In fact, students in the Angklung Goes to School program performed at the Freer|Sackler as part of the 2014 Performing Indonesia festival.
What can audiences expect from the performance on October 22? What do you hope they take away?
The audience will hear the unique sound of bamboo in the angklung in harmony with the sound of wood in the kolintang and other instruments. The angklung is from West Java, where the majority of people are Muslim, and the kolintang is from Minahasa, Sulawesi, where the majority are Christian.
The song selection is a picture of how diverse Indonesia is. We have more than 17,000 islands and about 600 dialects. Indonesian music and arts are influenced by many other cultures, such as those of Spain, India, China, and the Middle East. Despite how diverse it is, Indonesia is one nation, with its motto of “Unity in Diversity.”
I also hope that the audience will see how these ancient instruments can perform modern songs, including Western songs, in the spirit of the philosophy of the angklung: teamwork, mutual respect, and social harmony. Finally, this performance is to show how different religions and cultures interact peacefully in Indonesia through the universal language of music.
