Ary Sutedja-David

Ary Sutedja is an Indonesian pianist who obtained her Master of Music degree in piano performance in the United States at Towson University in Baltimore, Maryland in 1992 where she studied with Reynaldo Reyes.  While at Towson, Ary studied with Reynaldo Reyes, graduated summa cum laude, and received a number of awards including “Outstanding Achievement in Music”; winner of the Peggy and the Yale Gordon Foundation Scholarship; and winner of the Talent Award Competition. She subsequently undertook Postgraduate studies at St Petersburg Conservatory in Russia under the guidance of Sofia Vakman, Sergey Uryvaev and Valery Visnevsky. Her teachers in Indonesia included Iravati M. Sudiarso.

While living in Germany (1980’s), she toured as piano accompanist with the Bremen Opera Theatre working under Kapellmeister Gunther Bauernschenk. Ary returned to Indonesia in 1993. In 1994 she co-founded Classical Nuances with Soun Youn Yoon (Oboist / Korea) and Sharon Eng (Viola / USA).  They have performed concerts in Korea, Indonesia, Thailand, England, the United States, Greece, Kuwait, and Australia.

In 1999, together with her husband Mikhail David, Ary founded JakArt, an International Arts, Cultural and Educational Festival held in Jakarta during the entire month of June 2001, June 2002 and June 2003 where Ary held the position of Secretary-General. The JakArt Festivals have hosted over 1,000 events from world-class performances and exhibitions to public art and improvised events involving spontaneous expression.  The program (a.o. in dancer, theatre, music, architecture, visual arts, etc.) have taken place in over 300 venues at locations in and around Jakarta, ranging from the conventional to the alternative, and involving over 1,000 enthusiastic volunteers from all walks of life, and many local and international artists. In 2004, JakArt organized Festival à la Carte, a traveling Festival that traveled to 15 cities in Java and Bali.  Festival à la Carte was followed by a similar cultural program arranged by JakArt that traveled to 12 cities in the Peloponese (Greece) and in Athens during the Cultural Olympiad Athens 2004.  JakArt has been endorsed by UNESCO since 2002 and is a founding member of the Confederation of the Association of Asian Performing Arts Festival (AAPAF), other members which include the Singapore Arts Festival, Shanghai Arts Festival, Hong Kong Arts Festival, and the European Festival Association among many.  Ary served as a member of the Jakarta Art Council from 2003 – 2006. She also a member of the Indonesian National Committee for the Cultural Olympiad (2002 – 2004).

From 2004 – present, She served as an executive council member of AAPAF organized and continues to perform solo and chamber music worldwide. In 2006-2011, she performed in 46 cities around Indonesia together with her husband Mikhail David, Indonesian cellist Asep Hidayat and Rene van Helsdingen (piano/jazz) in a program called ASAH. In August 2008, her organization JakArt organized the Imaginary Festival (IF) which was attended by 31 festival directors and representatives from all over the world. In 2010 – 2012, she served as vice chairperson of the AAPAF (the Association of Asian Performing Arts Festival). In 2015, Ary became a member of the Supervisory Board of the 3rd National Art Conference in Bandung, Indonesia, December 1 – 5, 2015 at the invitation of the Ministry of Education and Culture.

Neocles Nicolas Mikhail David (1960-2013)

Mikhail David was born in 1960 in West Africa of Cypriot from Greek parents. His life can be summed in the slogan “Life, Love, and Creativity”. He believed that art is not just about hanging the painting, it’s about creativity and life itself.

Mikhail grew up in Europe and studied in North America where he obtained a Bachelor’s in Anthropology and Sociology (Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Since 1982 Mikhail has been living in Jakarta, Indonesia, dividing his time between Indonesia and Europe. Mikhail’s early visual art works tended towards minimalism shown in a number of solo and collective exhibitions in various countries including Greece, Italy, Canada, Australia, Indonesia.

During the 1990’s Mikhail became interested in installation works and begun creating “atmospheric inter-discipline interactive environments” evoking all of the Five Senses. For this purpose Mikhail created a special “space”, called “The Stage” (1991-1996), which became known as “the vanguard of the avant-garde”, a landmark of the Art Scene of Jakarta hosting over 3,000 local and visiting artists. During that same period Mikhail working with his friends, acclaimed Jazz musicians Luluk Purwanto (Indonesian violinist) and Rene van Helsdingen (Dutch pianist) and Dutch visual artist Art Marcus created a movable multi-purpose inter-disciplinary venue, “The Stage Bus”. Between 1994 and 1997 “ the Stage Bus” appeared in over 350 festivals and events all over Europe and the USA (70 concerts in 45 of the most prestigious Universities of the United States, 2002) and it has also toured Canada (100 concerts in 70 cities).

Mikhail is also known as a photographer. His works have been shown in a number of solo and collective exhibitions and have appeared in several news publications, art publications, magazines, brochures, and books. Mikhail also expresses himself through Landscape and Interior Design incorporating sculptures and other visual art works in the environment. Mikhail is married to the internationally acclaimed Indonesian concert pianist / musician Ary Sutedja-David. Together with his wife, Mikhail established the JakArt Festivals and Festival a la Carte. Two of his major works are “Homage to the Eternal Creativity of The Human Race” (2003) & “All the luggage we carry” (2004). In July 2003 JakArt presented at the National Museum: “Homage to the Eternal Creativity of The Human Race.” This unique installation/ exposition was designed as a sketch of atmospheric impressions suggesting the scope and possibilities of Mikhail’s proposal for the creation of a traveling and fully comprehensive chronological Educational Exposition (a traveling museum) of the most important examples of art produced throughout human history around the world, from the cave dweller to the present, in the form of museum replicas in an “atmospheric” context using material from both the Tangible Heritage and Intangible Heritage from around the world. The event was officiated by the Director General of UNESCO, Mr. Koichiro Matsuura and the Indonesian Minister for Culture and Tourism, Mr. I Gde Ardika.

In 2006-2011 he created an Indonesian 100 cities tour concept and performed in 46 cities around Indonesia together with Ary, Indonesian cellist Asep Hidayat and Rene van Helsdingen (piano/jazz) in a program called ASAH. In August 2008, his organization JakArt organized the Imaginary Festival (IF), which was attended by 31 festival directors and representatives from all over the world.

Mikhail David passed away in 2013, leaving behind him a legacy of works that will continue to inspire many.

Pudjiwati Insia M. Effendi

Mrs. Insia is one of the founders of Jakarta International Music School (JIMS), the precursor JakArt School of Arts. Her international exposure in music began by studying piano at 5 years old with teachers from Netherlands. At the age of 21, her parents sent her to the conservatory in Geneva, Switzerland, where she won the 2^nd virtuosity prize at her graduation. In 1960, she was invited to the United States to hold a Piano Recital and Javanese dance performance.

She continued her journey to Bucharest where she studied piano with Prof. Magda Niculau and Prof. Halmos in Romania. Then she followed her husband’s duty to Hong Kong where she gave recitals and accompanies singers at the Art Centre. In New York, USA she studied piano with Mrs. Nina Isidora from the Manhattan School of Music and Madame Adele Marcus from Juliard School of Music. In Indonesia, she held a concert with the Radio Symphony Orchestra as a soloist playing Chopin Concerto #2, Beethoven Concerto No.4 and C. Frank Variation with Yazeed Djamin as conductor.  For over a period of 30 years, she held recitals and studied piano in many foreign countries until in 1992 she held a recital in Perth, Australia and in the same year with her friends she founded JIMS, which we now know as JakArt School of Arts.

Sari Madjid

Sari Sabda Bhakti Majid was born on February 25, 1962. Theater is her life. She’s not only good at theater, but also often become the stage manager for many Teater Koma’s performances. She also handle the success of JakArt festival and Teater Koma’s performances. Dede, her nick name, wants to realize her goal; to make Jakarta to become the cultural city of the world. Now, she is the Chief of Finance and Adminstration of Dewan Kesenian Jakarta.