Media Release
7 September 2018
Members of Australia’s oldest orchestra and one of its most prestigious arts institutions, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, have come to Indonesia to share their talent and skills with Indonesian audiences and musicians.
In Jakarta, the orchestra’s string quartet conducts a Master Class with local classical musicians and perform in concert at the Australian Embassy’s Purnululu Theatre.
In Yogyakarta, the orchestra will conduct a Youth Music Camp with local music students and perform at the Taman Budaya Concert Hall.
“The strong relationship between one of Australia’s leading orchestras and Indonesia’s classical music community is symbolic of our shared commitment to the arts,” Australia’s Ambassador to Indonesia, Gary Quinlan, said.
The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra have held annual music camps in Yogyakarta since 2016.
In 2017, the full orchestra performed outdoors at Prambanan Temple – the first Australian orchestra to perform at the site.
“When Prime Minister Scott Morrison was in Indonesia recently he said it was a priority for him to encourage greater links between young people from both countries,” Ambassador Quinlan said.
“I am pleased to see Australians and Indonesians getting to know each other better through classical music and I look forward to seeing more of this type of collaboration in the future.”
Indonesia and Australia last week signed a Memorandum of Understanding for Cooperation in the Creative Economy.
Witnessed by Prime Minister Morrison and President Joko Widodo at the Presidential Palace in Bogor, the MOU provides a platform for increased engagement between Australia and Indonesia’s creative economy sectors, including music and the performing arts.
The visit is also part of an ongoing program of cooperation under a formal agreement between the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and the Yogyakarta Department of Culture, supported by the Victorian State Government and the Special Region of Yogyakarta.
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