Message of Harmony from City of World Music

The lives of the Ambonese people are closely linked to singing and playing music. Music is part of their blood and every breath. Music also transcends boundaries and serves as a bridge to peace between people.

KOMPAS/FRANSISKUS PATI HERIN

Niels Brouwer (playing guitar) and Monica Akihary, musicians of the Boi Akih group from Amsterdam, improvise with flutists Alle Noa and Riluke Noa in Tuni village, Ambon city, Maluku, on Friday (1/11/2019).

Musicians Niels Boruwer and Monica Akihary of the Boi Akih group from Amsterdam improvised in search of harmony on Friday (1/11/2019) in Tuni village of Ambon city, Maluku. Niels plucked classical tunes on his guitar and Monica hummed melancholic notes. Soon after, Tuni teenagers Alle Noa and Riluke Noa joined with their bamboo flutes.

Alle and Riluke easily picked up the beats from Niels’ guitar and kept up with him and the scale he set. This proved the strength of their musical intuition, similar to what director Kirsten Sheridan portrayed in her Oscar-nominated 2007 film, August Rush. The film centers on a boy played by child actor Freddie Highmore, who uses his musical intuition to match the melodies of his guitarist father, played by Jonathan Rhys-Meyers.

Niels and Monica often meet with young musicians in dozens of countries and said that they were amazed by the musical intuition of Alle and Riluke, who had no formal music education. Alle and Riluke started playing the bamboo flute when they joined the Molucca Bamboo Wind Orchestra, a traditional orchestra led by Ambonese musician Maynard Raynolds Nathanael Alfons, nicknamed Rence.

“They will be great musicians one day,” said Niels.

With its strong musical culture, Ambon has given birth to singers with golden voices across the generations.

Alle and Riluke represent the musicians and singers of Ambon. Song and music seems to fill the city of 376,152 people. At work, people entertain themselves by singing or at the very least, whistling. As technology has advanced, they have switched to listening to music on their gadgets.

Music is easily found everywhere in Ambon, both in homes and on the streets. Public minivans are like mobile discos, alive with music. Music is also a staple at all celebrations.

With its strong musical culture, Ambon has given birth to singers with golden voices across the generations. They have shined at national and world stages, including legends like Broery Marantika, Harvey Malaihollo, Utha Likumahuwa and Franky Sahilatua, and on to the era of Andre Hehanussa, Glenn Fredly and Barry Likumahuwa. There is also Daniel Sahuleka, who has successfully forged an international career.

Many Ambonese singers have a high vocal range. Many male singers have a range as high as women singers, who have a naturally higher vocal range than men. Ambonese singers love to sing pop ballads. Their songs are mostly about mothers, nature and love.

KOMPAS/HERU SRI KUMORO

Singer Andre Hehanusa

Nature’s influence

Ambon Music Office director Ronny Loppies said that the vocal characteristics of Ambonese singers were strongly influenced by their natural environment. Their gentle vocal quality was influenced by the slow waves and the soft sea breeze. “The serenity of nature means that Ambonese singers do not have explosive voices. They woo and seduce you,” Ronny said.

Ambonese people also have a strong sense of harmony. In a group, they divide naturally into sopranos, altos, tenors and basses. “Germans, whom singers all over the world look up to, cannot divide their voices without reading the notes,” said Ronny, who studied in Germany for two years.

Ambon as one of the world’s “Creative Cities” for music.

The musical culture also affects the behavior of Ambonese people, including their use of songs and music as a medium for conveying messages of peace two decades ago, when social conflict erupted in Maluku.

Their talent for vocal music, instrumental music and the use of music for peace has prompted UNESCO to designate Ambon as one of the world’s “Creative Cities” for music. At the inauguration ceremony on Wednesday (30/10), UNESCO director general Audrey Azoulay said that Ambon was the only city in Southeast Asia that had been bestowed with the title.

The designation creates a great opportunity for developing the local music industry, which can hopefully drive economic growth in the Maluku capital. Ambon’s inauguration as a UNESCO City of Music also sends the message that Ambon engenders harmony. As the only world city of music in the country, Ambon can contribute harmony to a diverse Indonesia.