Kata Dani

Recently, me and my wife were asked to represent Ambassador Sudjadnan to attend the Ambassadors Ball which was held in honor of The Diplomatic Corps of Washington D.C and to benefit the Multiple Sclerosis Society. The event was held on Sept 16, 2008 at the International Ballroom at Washington Hilton and Tower in Washington D.C.

The party was great, the food was excellent, and of course, it involved dancing (as we thought it would be). The good thing is that being invited to this event have reminded us to start practicing our dance moves-- knowing that none of us have any background of ballroom dancing.

Seeking for help, I contacted Capitol Hill Art Workshop (CHAW), asked whether they have ballroom dancing classes. They do have 'social-dance' (that is how they call it) class and it was started soon after we asked them about it. We are lucky that we got two sessions with them before the Sept 16 event. and that the instructor have taught us four basic steps: waltz, foxtrot, rumba, and swing. There will be another five sessions after this and of course we are planning to attend all of them even though the ambassadors ball event has already past.

We're glad that we are taking these classes. We still believe that the dance is good to know, especially, for diplomat family who may be often being involved with invitations that required this kind of dancing.

At least two people told me that if I want to upgrade my solo singing 'to the next level' I should stop singing in choirs and focus on my voice lessons--and they have been telling me this since years ago. I used to think that choir singing has nothing to do with solo singing as they are basically using similar technique. What makes them different are style and intensity. I used to think that as long as I realize those differences and manage myself to apply the right one at the right time, I should be fine.

But now--after struggling with my voice for years--I think that may be this is the time for me to start listening to them. Un-choir-ing myself for a while may not be such a bad idea. It is hard, of course--as I have already got used to live with many choirs at a time--but it is not something that can not be done.

So that is one of the reason why I am not coming back to Master Chorale of Washington this season. It is sad as they will be doing great works this season including Elijah and Carmina Burana. But, I guess I know I have to stick with the plan.

Now, I need to start focus on preparing my first recital. I have several plans and don't know yet which to choose.

Meanwhile, there will be a mini concert coming up two weeks from now at St Michael the Archangel church, the church where I cantor regularly. This concert is a dedication concert for the recently purchased organ. The program will contain various performances including organ solo, Adult and children choirs, and also vocal solo. They want me to sing two solo pieces, and for this, I am planning to sing Every valley (from Handel's Messiah) and the very known Cesar Frank's Panis Angelicus. I choose these song to consider the church assembly (the audience) who may not be familiar with classical music. After The Pirates of Penzance, this event would become another excellent time for me to practice my solo singing and performance.

In the mid of August '08, I had the opportunity of playing an operetta titled The Pirates of Penzance or The Slave of Duty by W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan. I don't have any pictures of the performance (yet), however I can promise that a video clip of this play will be available soon (in my video section, and perhaps ..in VOA-Indonesia website)

The show was a joint production between Capitol Hill Art Workshop and GLBT (Gay Lesbian Bisexual and Transgender) Art Consortium. I am not affiliated with any of these organization, though. I joined the cast member after I passed the audition that they held on April '08. At that time, my voice teacher found the audition announcement--on one of the mailing groups he joined in--and passed the info to me. He convinced me that I was ready for this and that I should come and try it out. So I did it. I came to the Audition with my wife (and my baby) on a nice Saturday afternoon.

They asked me to sing any song I want, even a simple song like 'Happy Birthday' would be acceptable. So I sung "I'm not a Boy, She Says" from musical A Streetcar Named Desire by Andre Previn. It went very well, the accompanist was the music director herself, Barbara Schelstrate, who site-read the music and played it so well on the piano. (by the way, Andre Previn's musics are not easy). After that, I was asked to sung few bars of one of the Aria on that play: 'Oh is there not one maiden breast.' I can tell immediately from the applause that I received, that my singing was quite amazing! :-)
 
But then, the worst part came. They asked me to do a dialog. They called another audition participant, Jessica Searle--which then played as Mabel--to read a dialog with me.

Even though I have been in US for about one and a half year at that time, I was not confident enough with my English pronunciation and diction. So I must say that the reading part on my audition was a huge mess. I found quite a lot of words that I was not familiar with and had no idea how to pronounce, let alone, get the suitable accent and intonation.
So I went home with not much expectation.

Then, few days after that I got an email from the head of production, Jill Strachan, who offered me to play as Frederic. I checked over the internet and found out that this role is one of the leading roles on this operetta. Nice!
After confirming my availability, I was immediately ran to the nearest music store to get the score. I was so nervous having my first play that I wanted to learned it as soon as possible; and I did. I brought it to my voice teacher on the next lesson and began to learned it.

So, there I was, being busy with the rehearsals. I am so glad I got help from Joan Biella to practice my dialog and fixed my pronunciation. I cannot believed myself that I finally be able to memorize all of those lines. Thanks to i-tunes and ipod, I can get a good recording and played it frequently wherever I go.

Overall, the preparation for this production was ok. I enjoyed working with these people. They were friendly, nice, and fun to work with. Of course, like any other production, 'drama' and tension sometime happens, but in this production, I believe that they have ended very well and peacefully.

There were six performances. Three performances on 8 and 9 of August, and another three on 15 and 16 of August. I was so happy that it all went very well. Everything were great, including the audience. All of the seats were taken which made us more excited and felt important.

I was surprised when Naratama from the VOA--Voice of America--told me that they were interested to cover the story of me, an Indonesian, taking part in this local community activity.

So he came with his cameramen on the fifth performance, interviewed me and other cast members, and also video-taped the whole show.
It was kind of 'a celebrity moment' for me--which I totally enjoyed! Ha-ha-ha!
I don't know when they will aired this story, though (I think it should be available on VOA-website and perhaps aired on JakTV Jakarta). Just wait and see.

By the way, this play has become the greatest singing experience in my life, until now, as it was the first time ever I played a full operetta where I got a major role, let alone the fact that it's not in my native language and not in my home country.
Fantastic isn't it ?!!

I really thank all of those who have supported me: my Jesus, my wife and daughter, my voice teacher...
.. wait, am I starting to have an Oscar moment here?!.
Ha ha ha...  I think I'd better stop now.

Summer is almost end!
There were some good things happened to me this summer.

First, Me, my wife, and Ariana are in good shape (read: fat! Ha ha), and Ariana has grown so well-as always;

Second, my study is almost finish! which means, soon I will have my degree--and figure out how to use it to fulfill my dream of having a good-paying job! Ha ha;

Third, I've made new friends and got a wonderful experience of playing an operetta with a community theater;

Fourth, I think I have made significant improvements in my voice during this summer, and am cocky enough to think of having a recital in the near future.

and lastly, there's a trip plan coming up by the end of this summer! yeah!

There were also other things happened--or are about to happen--like the successful Aubade, Diplomatic Reception, Ballroom Dancing class, My wife's new high-heels, etc
I will tell you all about them...
soon... ha ha.