[JAWAPOS – 1 February 2024]
SURABAYA – A group of lecturers and university students stared at Bindhi with amazement. It was their first time to see a wooden drum with one of its ends covered with cloth. They didn’t even know that that pair of Bonang could produce the sound that could soothe the hearers when it’s harmonized with the other Gamelan music instruments.
Last Tuesday (30/1), NSA junior high students demonstrated Bindhi and Bonang before their guests. There are 34 university students and lecturers from Thailand, China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Canada, Malaysia, Taiwan, North Korea, and Myanmar who were enthusiastic to see the performance. Then, they tried to play the traditional instruments demonstrated in the collaboration with the 10th November Institute of Surabaya. “So, through this program, we’re trying to nourish Indonesian culture and promote it globally,” said NSA Principal Inggriette Liany to Jaws Pos.
Through the program called Community and Technological Cam (CommTECH) Insight 2024, NSA disseminated knowledge regarding traditional music instruments, especially about instrumentation, technique, and the cultural meaning of traditional music instruments. Besides Gamelan, they introduced Kolintang and Angklung.
“That activity was led by NSA junior high students,” explained Ms. Inggriette. Beside introducing those three traditional musical instruments, the students performed the soft skills that they had learned at school.
One student from the Erica Campus of South Korean University, Jung Su-Jong, admired the traditional music played by the students. Even though she isn’t familiar with how to play the music as well as the sound of the music, she really enjoyed the notes created in harmony.
Inggriette hoped that the program could strengthen the cultural bond between Indonesia and all students and lecturers from the nine different countries. ‘Thus, we and the students also nourish the culture and have to be proud of our own culture.’Ingriette explained .