Field Trip to Aula Simfonia Jakarta

Reflection on Aula Simfonia Trip

Written by Ivesavega Djianto

On 18th of August, we had an opportunity to visit Aula Simfonia Jakarta, one of the biggest theatre and where the best musicians are held. It was a very huge second chance for me to go to the theatre and I am very willing to take part in this study trip. Not only was a new to the music industry, but I now had more courage and higher passion to pursue my dreams to music. On the study trip, we were welcomed to watch the master class that day. Master class is where musicians are trained, while conducting master class is a training class for conductors, and are trained by the head of conductor.

Based on my experience, the structure of the master class was amazing. So the orchestra sits in the middle of the stage, while different conductors goes in and goes out, once there song was in the turn. The head of conductor watches amongst the orchestra, also the conductor that is conducting the song. The maestro, head of conductor, wants to teach the musicians and conductors to become better, so he would approach them and he would really lecture them in a very serious and nerve-wrecking manner.
The orchestra was like a real-life music. It owned everything. Even the slightest mistake made by the orchestra, it wasn’t heard at all. It really relaxes our minds and calms our body. The qualities that I can get from this master class is that it isn’t so easy to become a musician. They go through a lot of lecturing and scoldings, but that’s the key to becoming a musician, we have to go through it and the more you understand, the lesser the mistakes you will make.

Conducting Masterclass

Written by Harvani Sumawijaya

A masterclass is a session during which a younger musician can personally learn from a more experienced mentor who has walked the walk and can tell them how to advance to the next level. This applies not only to the student playing but also to the audience observing. A conducting masterclass is where a less experienced conductor can learn from an experienced maestro to help them with specific details in their conducting, such as leading or having a solid idea of how to interpret a piece.

In the masterclass we watched, each student was given approximately 30 minutes each. During the allotted time, they first went through the selected piece, conducting as they normally would. The maestro could wait until the end of the piece or stop them at any time to give his advice. He would then pick out details and areas in which the students lack to work on them. The maestro, in this particular masterclass, was very perceptive and sincerely wanted the students to grow. He was not too harsh, while also being honest when necessary. He identified their bad habits and did his best to fix them. He also frequently asked questions to train them to think as they should.

The orchestra was very attentive and played accordingly to the conductor. The orchestra was responsive and gave their opinions on which sections needed work so the student could grow. The musicians were very professional. They all cared deeply about the music they were making, playing to the best of their abilities even when being conducted by a totally new person.

I enjoyed the trip, learning about an aspect of orchestral music I do not have much experience with. I would gladly go on other opportunities of the sort in the future.

Study Visit to Aula Simfonia

Written by Timothy Husein

Aula Simfonia is located in North Jakarta and this place was built for the cities need of a ‘proper’ concert hall. This concert hall has been used since 2009 and it is still standing up until know. This hall is used by musicians whether it is from Indonesia or it is from international countries to showcase their talent in music and because of the shape of the hall, all the sound will bounce of the walls and it will eventually end up in your ear so no matter where you sit inside the hall, you will hear the different kinds of music instruments playing melodiously and harmoniously.

Mr. Yandri invited me to attend an event called the masterclass event in the concert hall itself. It was my second time going to the concert hall and the concert hall amazed me by how the artwork and the different ornaments around were placed. A masterclass means that it is a class given by an expert to highly talented students.  A conducting masterclass is technically learning how to be a better conductor through different types of techniques. Dr. Stephen Tong is a famous music director and principal conductor and he was the one teaching the other conductors how to be better in conducting. Through my experience, the structure of a masterclass is that the musicians do not have a lot of break for them to rest so they will have to keep on playing and each student is given a specific time for them to conduct and be thought by Dr. Stephen Tong. They were very accurate with their time so when the time is up, they will proceed to the next one. Each student will be given a song for him or her to conduct and Dr. Stephen will listen to the song at first. After he listens to the song and how the students conduct the song, He will pin point out some points, which needs to be fixed. He would usually say the bar number and ask the student to conduct it. If it is wrong and the student don’t quiet understand how it is supposed to be done, he will give and example on how to conduct that specific part and he would give more advice for the students. It sounds like he was getting mad at the students but it was actually a learning process for the students. The orchestra was all in sync and they were all concentrating and looking at the conductor, nit missing a single beat. They were all playing together as one without even hearing any other external noise and this is how an orchestra should be. The conductor will give signs and clues where the instrument will start so they should always stay focused on the song they are playing.

The qualities that I have learned in this masterclass is that being a conductor is not an easy task to do. It requires a lot of hand-eye coordination and you should be able to emphasize on the important part of the sheets. There is a lot of task that a conductor has to do. They have to make sure they keep the tempo of the song, indicate the dynamic of the bar, don’t forget to indicate the instrument that is playing on the next bar, focus on other instruments and not just one instrument, and most importantly, as a conductor, you must know which part is the most important part of the sheet so you could specifically practice that part of the song.

In conclusion, being a conductor is not a simple task where you just move your hand, but there is much more that is needed and also being a conductor requires people that has the skills to multitask where they can do two or more things at once. “Music is like a dream. One that I cannot hear.” —  Ludwig van Beethoven

Aula Simfonia Study Visit

Written by Electra Florence

During the visit to Aula Simfonia this time, it was a whole new experience to watch Dr. Jahja Ling, a universally praised music director, conduct a masterclass for the advanced conducting students. The masterclass consisted of the conducting students taking turns in conducting the orchestra for different pieces, all the while being carefully observed and corrected by Dr. Jahja Ling himself. It was interesting to see the very distinct styles of conducting that each student brought to the stage and how wide of a spectrum conducting can be in terms of its interpretations. The corrections that Dr. Ling gave to all the students ultimately lead to the goal of projecting the best of the pieces to the audience, and it was really cool to watch how Dr. Jahja Ling followed through the different conducting styles of the students in reaching this one goal in such a way that each conductor’s personal style of movements were still very much conserved.

In addition, of course, without the cooperation of the orchestra, the student conductors would not have had the ability to have the masterclass. Needing to play segments of the pieces multiple times, there was not any one time that it sounded of lower quality and when asked where the conductors were not being so clear with their cues, the orchestra instantly had answers. It was a clear statement of the mutual respect that the orchestra and conductors have for each other.

It was truly an honor to be given this opportunity!

Report of Study Visit – Aula Simfonia

Written by Nicholas Ngadiman

Visiting a masterclass for the first time was a very breath-taking moment for me. A masterclass is a lesson given to top students by a professional in that subject, usually music.  Basically, a conducting masterclass is a masterclass of conducting, the act of guiding the musicians on how and when to play. The professional in this scenario is called a maestro. During the masterclass I watched, the orchestra was splendid. The notes were played according to the music score and the instructions from the students and the maestro was finely executed. However, there were times when the students made mistakes and gave unclear instructions which confused the instrumentalists. Otherwise, the masterclass generally taught me a lot of lessons and even morals that could help improve my life.