Sylviana Hamdani

Marusya Nany Faime Nainggolan, musician, composer and director of the Jakarta Arts Building, credits her parents with her musical talent.

Indonesian Maestro Making Beautiful Music On a Tight Budget

The family of Maru sya Nany Faime Nainggolan, director of the Gedung Kesenian Jakarta, has a long and colorful history with the institution.

Her father, Sutan Kalimuda Nainggolan, was performing at the Jakarta Arts Institute, long before the musician and composer was even born.

“Father used to play violin with Dutch musicians in this building,” said Marusya, 55, who is also mother to a 13-year-old son. “Who could have guessed that today his daughter is director of the same organization? It’s all in God’s mysterious plans.”

She said she has worked hard to create high caliber arts and cultural programs at the theater since being appointed director in 2004, but added that at times it is a tiring position. Marusya and her staff of 30 people work six days a week, liaising with many local and international cultural centers, and several foreign embassies.

“Ibu Marusya is disciplined and hard-working,” staff member Lia Nugrahati said. “It’s not easy to keep up with her sometimes. But she’s a good leader and very attentive to her staff.”

In her cluttered office next to the main theater building, the director was constantly interrupted by staff trailing in and out with paperwork needing her approval.

“Actually, I’m not feeling well today,” Marusya said. “But I have to come to work and attend an important event this evening. If you say yes, you have to do it.”

Grit and integrity have carried the director a long way in her career. Yulianti Parani, a former lecturer of Marusya’s at the Jakarta Institute of the Arts, said: “She has always been someone with a strong mind. Since her college years, she has always been consistent in what she does. She became involved with a lot of student activities. It’s not easy to match her enthusiasm.”

Born in Bogor into a family of 10 children, Marusya received her early musical foundation from her father before continuing her studies at the Musical Studies Foundation under Rudi Laban. She was among the first graduates from the Jakarta Institute of the Arts, where she studied piano and musical ensemble and went on to attend the Sydney Conservatorium of Music under a scholarship from the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs. She later went on to attend Boston University under a Fulbright scholarship.

But while these prestigious institutes refined her musical talent, Marusya attributes her success to her parents. “They were a couple of simple school teachers from Sumatra. My parents were not rich but they gave us all a good education.”

On Oct. 12, the Marusya Chamber of Music won the gold prize at the Seoul International Senior Arts Festival 2009, the first time an Indonesian group had taken part in the event.

“I played three of my compositions. A solo piano piece, ‘Love for All Us,’ was inspired by a trip to South Korea in 2008. ‘Calonarang,’ a composition for chamber music and dance, was taken from poetry by Toety Heraty Nurhadi, and ‘Rondo’ a chamber music composition,” she said. The group has received an invitation to attend the festival again next year.

“I always pray before each performance. I hope my music will please the audience and that it won’t make me conceited,” Marusya said.

Faith seems to be a major foundation for her work. As Gedung Kesenian runs on a tight annual budget of Rp 60 million ($6,360), she acknowledged struggling to make ends meet at the end of each month.

“I have 30 staff and the maintenance of an old building to take care of. However, I don’t go around complaining,” she said. “I just do my best and pray for God to help me with the rest. Until now, He has never let me down.”

Founded by the Dutch in 1821, Gedung Kesenian, originally named Stads-Schouwburg (City Theater), has a rich history and has, at various times, been an upscale performance center during the colonial era, a military compound during the Japanese occupation and from 1968 through 1985 it became a cinema, screening Kung Fu movies. In 1987, the municipal government restored the building to its former glory and declared it a cultural heritage site.

“Gedung Kesenian Jakarta belongs to a historical compound consisting of the Immanuel Church, the Pancasila building, the Presidential Palace, central post office and Budi Utomo State High School. It’s something that we all have to preserve and be proud of,” Marusya said.

Working with a foundation run by Tatiek Bowo, the wife of Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo, Marusya also teaches music to underprivileged children in North Jakarta.

“If I don’t care for these children, then who will?” Marusya said.

Gedung Kesenian regularly hosts performances by the young musicians and puppeteers.

“People may be more interested in watching [pop group] Il Divo, for which they’re willing to pay Rp 10 million,” she said. “But we also have to foster the musical talent of these kids.”

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