MELATI PUTIH
Wiji Astuti (Indonesia) vocals
Rodrigo Parejo (The Netherlands/Spain) flutes, voice, compositions
Iswanto (Indonesia) gender and other gamelan instruments
Suryadi "Plenthe" Nugroho (Indonesia) kendhang, percussions
guest:
Rianto (Indonesia/Japan) dance (traditional and contemporary)
"The Melati Putih flower is a representative small sacred flower in the Indonesian tradition which can produce a very sweet fragrance. It symbolizes purity, beauty, sacredness, graceful simplicity, sincerity and modesty. For ethnic Indonesians, it is very associated with wedding ceremonies (in the island of Java), or also with floral offerings and funerals in the island of Bali.
MELATI PUTIH is a proyect created by the Netherlands-based spanish jazz musician Rodrigo Parejo, who spent some periods living in Indonesia, studying and researching about indonesian music and culture. There he created this group with the collaboration of the very talented indonesian musicians from the city of Surakarta (Java): Wiji Astuti, Suryadi Nugroho “Plenthe” and Iswanto Mento Martono, who during the years earned a big experience performing with some of the greatest Indonesian Masters all around the world.
MELATI PUTIH is not only inspired by the symbolic values that this beautiful flower represents in the indonesian tradition, but has also interest on sharing through contemporary western compositions many of the sounds from the different sub-cultures inside this big archipelago (sounds from Islamic calls to prayer (“Adhan”), meditative Buddhist mantras, gamelan music, field and ethnic soundscapes, etc..)
Melatih Putih invites to collaborate to the extraordinary Japan-based indonesian dancer and choreographer Rianto, young master of the traditional and contemporary javanese dance, who has a solid career performing regularly around the world traditional and contemporary dance.
MEMBERS
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RODRIGO PAREJO (flutes, voice, compositions)
Versatil adventurous spanish flute player and improviser based in The Netherlands, with a long and broad experience working in many different music fields as Jazz Music, World (Flamenco, Brazilian, Latin, Gamelan,...), Classical, Contemporary, Experimental, Electronic, Rock, Free Jazz, Noise, Ambient, Funk, Hip Hop, Pop and many other music genres. Spanish musician based in The Netherlands, who have enriched his musicality by studying different music traditions from different cultures around the world. He has travelled, studied and performed in South-east Asia, US, Canada, and a big part of Europe. He often works in the fields of Jazz, World Music (Flamenco, Brazilian, Latin,...) and Contemporary/Experimental music; although in general Improvisation and Music as a universal language is his main interest, having performed with many different musicians, dancers, painters, poets,...from different places, cultures and social backgrounds, like: Phil Woods, Norma Winstone, Alex Sipiagin, Yuri Honing, Eric Vloeimans, Saray Muñoz Barrul, Lazara Lopez Cachao, London Improvisers Orchestra, Han Bennink, The Hague Ethospheric Orchestra, Suprapto,... He is graduated with Honors from the Royal Conservatory in the Hague (The Netherlands) in Jazz Performance, where he also obtained a Master Degree with positive critics. He also received music education at the Banff Center of Arts (Canada), School for Improvisation (Oslo and New York), Institute Seni Indonesia (Surakarta), etc. |
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WIJI ASTUTI (vocals)
She is an active singer in Central Java, having performed in many different festivals and events in Indonesia, singing traditional and contemporary javanese music as well religious music. She is also graduated in the javanese music performance program from the Institute Seni Indonesia (ISI Surakarta), currently finishing a Master program in the same institution. Her beautiful warm voice goes between the traditional javanese music from Central Java, to the Muslim chants, including many other tastes as colours of the sundanese music and other sounds from the island of Java. |
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ISWANTO (gender, gamelan)
He is a 30 years old talented gamelan musician from Indonesia born in West Java 30 years ago. He has worked internationally with some of the biggest personalities of Indonesian music in projects like: “Mahakarya Borobudur” with Indonesian Art Institute of Surakarta (Magelang 2005, 2009 & 2010), “Ramayana Under The Stars” with Midiyanto (Singapore 2010), “Festival Gamelan” with Rahayu Supanggah/Garasi Seni Benawa (Malaysia 2010), “Opera Jawa: Tusuk Konde” with Rahayu Supanggah (Amsterdam 2010 & Paris 2011), “The Mask Majestic” with Rahayu Supanggah (Singapore 2012), “HIFA” with Peni Candrarini (Zimbabwe 2011), “Ontosoroh” with Peni Candrarini (Adelaide 2013, Brisbane 2014, Canada 2014), etc. Currently is completing a thesis on Indonesian Art Institute (ISI Surakarta). |
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SURYADI NUGROHO "PLENTHE" (kendhang, percussions)
Young master of the Indonesian percussion instrument "kendhang sunda". Self-taught musician discovered by the Indonesian music legend artist Didi Kempot (famous for combining two of the most popular music styles in Indonesia: Keroncong and Dangdut music) with who worked for 10 years performing all around Indonesia and abroad. Afterwards he developped his own music direction becoming interested on many other ethnic percussions styles from the world, having performed in The Netherlands, Hong Kong, Australia, Suriname, Africa, Canada, Australia,etc...with some important artists from Indonesia as Peni Candra, Endah Laras, etc... Despite having no formal music training, he became sometimes lecturer at Institute Seni Indonesia (ISI Surakarta). He also works producing, recording and arranging contemporary (pop and traditional) Indonesian music combining traditional and modern instruments. |
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guest artist:
RIANTO (dance, choreography) Rianto is a dancer, choreographer and director of the Dewandaru Dance Company of Tokyo, for Indonesian Friendship Culture between Indonesia and Japan. He lives currently in Tokyo, although he is originally from the region of Banyumas in Java Island. He is a master of the traditional dance of Banyumas called "Lengger" as well he learned the Javanese traditional dances of Gagah and Alus under Mr. Daryono and the court dance in Istana Mangkunegaran. He graduated from the Academy of Dance from the Institute of Arts of Indonesia in Surakarta (ISI Solo) in 2004. Since then, he has worked in many projects and choreagraphies in many countries around the world with different companies or even presenting his own works. Some important performances were with Orange Blossom Dance Company in Boston (USA) in 2006, English National Opera (London, 2007), own projects in Taiwan, Indonesian Festival 2008, Singapore, India, Austria, The Netherlands, Korea,... In 2009, Rianto was invited by the Indonesian Embassy and Santi Budaya LCCD, to choreograph and dance in the reception of the inaugural ceremony of US President-elect Barack Obama in Washington, D.C. |
MUSIC:
PHOTOS
MORE INFO (dossier and full biographies):
| melati_putih_dossier_2015.pdf |
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