“If you have not yet heard of, and not therefore actually heard, Avip Priatna’s work then you are missing a piece of history in the making. Avip is the conductor of The Jakarta Concert Orchestra, Batavia Madrigal Singers and The Resonanz Children’s Choir and under his talented leadership has brought them to absolutely international standard,” says Alistair Speirs, who was blown away by the December concert.
The Hollywood in Jakarta Concert at Theater Jakarta in the Taman Ismail Marzuki Complex provided another opportunity for Avip to bring out the talents of both choirs and the orchestra in a magnificent evening of glorious sound. The programme was all based on Hollywood film sound tracks, from Polar Express to Jaws, from Skyfall to Saturday Night Fever and was greeted with an ecstatic response by a knowledgeable crowd.
The vocal soloists Stefani Yang, Lisa Depe and Farman Purnama were exemplary, giving each song an interpretation that was far above expectation. But 15-year-old Jennifer Chrysantha Salim who was the piano soloist for the Warsaw Concerto was just sublime.
However, it was the Resonanz Children’s Choir who stole the show for me with a medley from Grease in the first half and another from Frozen in the second. Their musicality, their discipline and their completely coordinated and choreographed movement, had the crowd on their feet, and the finale which involved everybody belting out Les Miserables favorites was just a triumph, leading to four well deserved encores. An outstanding performance, do NOT miss the next one!
