Sruti Respati: A Democratic 'Sinden'

sumber: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/12/24/a-democratic-039sinden039.html

 

Sruti Respati prefers to be called a sinden (a gamelan orchestra singer) rather than a vocalist.

It’s not that she regards one profession superior to the other, but believes the term sinden better reflects her Javanese character.

“Saying I am a sinden reminds me of my passion for traditional arts on which I’ve thrived. It’s more appropriate for me to be called a sinden and I’m proud of it,” said the young woman.

Born in Surakarta, also known as Solo, in 1980, Sruti was brought up in a family steeped in Javanese traditional arts. Her father Sri Djoko Rahardjo and grandpa Ki Njoto Tjarito were famous dalang wayang kulit (leather puppet show players) in Solo, while her mother Sri Maryati was a Javanese dancer.

“When I was a child, my father frequently took me to watch his wayang shows. When I grew up, now and again I would join wayang performances and karawitan [gamelan music and vocals] concerts as a sinden, besides also dancing with my mother,” added Sruti.

She moved to Jakarta with her family when she was a second grader and finished her junior high school (SMP) in the capital. There, she became acquainted with various kinds of modern music like classic, jazz, rock and pop. While she liked listening to them, she never wanted to abandon traditional arts.

“In SMP I took different lessons including ballet. I tried almost everything as a teenager. Now I am familiar with many arts, which was useful for my emotional enrichment,” said the graduate of Javanese literature from Sebelas Maret State University (UNS), Solo.

She began her sinden career when she returned to Solo after finishing high school. While studying in college, she appeared in various wayang and orchestral performances. During those years, she met several karawitan musicians in Solo. Besides learning from her father, she was a Banyumasan (southern gamelan music) student of Arno Kartawi and Suyoto, lecturers at the Indonesian Arts Institute (ISI), Solo.

In 2002, Sruti became a protégé of ethnic musician Dedek Wayudi, who later introduced her to some experts including Wayan Sadra, Danis Sugiyanto and Rahayu Supanggah. Through her involvement in the many concerts organized by these noted Solo musicians, Sruti grew into a reliable sinden. Once-musician and noted dalang Sudjiwo Tedjo was drawn to her stage skills and has since collaborated with her in his shows.

Beyond her vocal skills for wayang and gamelan orchestration, she further expanded her techniques to cover contemporary music, jazz, and keroncong (pop music with a Portuguese tint), the last with the Swastika keroncong group.

“I allowed myself to explore different musical genres as I don’t like being limited to one type of music,” said the wife of Wahyu Wijayanto.

Under the instruction of gamelan specialist Rahayu Supanggah, Sruti was selected to represent Indonesia at the ASEAN-Korea Traditional Music Orchestra in Korea for two years in a row (2009 and 2010). In the forum, Sruti presented langgam (Javanese pop style) Bengawan Solo or Solo River and mobile concerts in several South Korean cities.

“I grew up with Javanese art but I’ve come to know diverse musical genres. I’m going to retain the character of Java in whatever music I sing, as my way of highlighting Javanese traditional arts,” said the woman, who in July became the icon of the Solo International Performing Art (SIPA) program in this Central Java city.

In her early musical explorations, Sruti was more engaged in Javanese langgam and keroncong, and later in contemporary and jazz music. Determined to highlight the Javanese character of the songs she presents, Sruti is in fact obsessed with bringing Javanese art to the world stage.

“We have more than pop music, as the country’s traditional compositions are great works. We should introduce our cultural riches to the outside world. Since I’m Javanese, I’m automatically an advocate of Javanese art,” said the sinden, who on Dec. 17 jointly performed with Sudjiwo Tedjo at Airlangga University, Surabaya, East Java.

Sruti is able to combine Javanese cengkok (pitch or key changes) with modern music’s vocal techniques. She manages to give the sinden vocal color to any musical genre, especially jazz.

In December 2009, for instance, she stunned the audience at the Solo City Jazz. Her collaboration with Bintang Indrianto (Akordeon group) became a memorable event. She repeated her success in 2010 with Akordeon (Bintang Indrianto, Rindra “Padi”, and Roedyanto Warsito).

“Sinden and jazz share the same feature of allowing room to improvise. Hundreds of cengkok variants in traditional poetry singing are equivalent to jazz improvisations,” said Sruti, who in early December appeared at Bentara Budaya Jakarta along with her band, Sruti Respati and Friends.

With Sruti, traditional and contemporary music can be enjoyed at the same time. The character difference between both styles, normally very markedly perceived, fades away and turns into a type of uniquely “new music” pleasant to the ear yet still impossible to define.

Sruti said she was lucky to have grown up in a moderate family of traditional artists and later meet with great musicians in Solo.

They’re great not only because of their ingenuity in musical innovation but also their democratic attitude toward musical expression.

“They’ve never been shackled by a single type of music. They are democratic for being open to the other types [of music]. There’s no more single genre representing a certain group, because music is a democratic forum. I’m a democratic sinden,” she said laughingly.

Sruti is winding up her musical journey in 2010 by releasing a jazz album entitled Sruti: Kemarin, Esok, Adalah Saat Ini (Sruti: Yesterday, Tomorrow, is Today). It’s a collaboration with artists Bintang Indrianto and Imam Garmasah.