Jakarta, IO – The atmosphere at the National Monument (Monas) was a little out of the ordinary on Sunday (15/10) evening.
Thousands of people from Jakarta and its satellite cities filled the large stage emblazoned with the words ‘2023 Monas Grand Concert’ which stood at the Silang Tenggara area, Central Jakarta.
The Monas Grand Concert (KAM) is a classical music event organized by the Jakarta Simfonia Hall. This year is its third edition. It aims to introduce classical music to more Indonesian people.
A total of 24 songs consisting of national songs, songs composed by Indonesian and world composers were performed by musicians from the Jakarta Simfonia Orchestra and the Jakarta Oratorio Society.
Besides being skilled, the musicians seemed to enjoy playing classical musical instruments such as the violin, cello, flute and triangle, captivating the audience with every song they played.
The songs performed at KAM 2023 were divided into two parts, national songs and songs composed by Indonesian composers such as Ismail Marzuki and Gombloh fill the first session, and legendary classical songs are played in the next part.
Stephen Tong, Eunice Tong and Rebecca Tong were the conductors who led the 120 minute classical music concert.
KAM 2023 opened with the song Indonesia Raya which was played at 18.30 WIB. The game of the song was continued with Kelapa Island’s Rayuan to Kebyar-Kebyar.
As the night grew old, classical music played by 60 musicians and 100 choir singers increasingly enchanted the audience. The appearance of the three conductors who took turns leading the music with their own unique styles made the concert not boring at all.
One thing that impressed me was the performance of Stephen Tong, the conductor who led many songs from legendary composers such as Beethoven and Jean Sibelius, as well as the brains behind the classical music event.
Stephen had a full appreciation and understanding of the music. Before playing a song, the conductor who was born in 1940 first told the history or events behind the work he was going to perform.
“This important work speaks of man’s victory over fate,” said Stephen before playing Beethoven’s Symphony no. 5, Mov. 4.
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The various information presented by Stephen provides completely new knowledge about a type of music that is perhaps not popular with most people in the country.
KAM 2023, which is open to the public without charge, then closed very beautifully with the song 1812 Overture composed by Russian composer, Tchaikovsky. (un)