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North Sumatra music hero and Suarasama leader Irwansyah Harahap passes away
Music maestro Irwansyah Harahap died on Thursday morning at the Adam Malik Hospital in Medan, North Sumatra.
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Maestro: Irwansyah Harahap surrounded by his favorite instruments.(Suarasama Facebook page) (Personal archive/Courtesy of Suarasama Facebook page))
M
usic maestro Irwansyah Harahap passed away on Thursday morning at the Adam Malik Hospital in Medan, North Sumatra. He was a month away from his 61st birthday.
Irwansyah’s only daughter, Niesya Harahap, told The Jakarta Post that his father had a long history of acute gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and often suffered from an excruciating stomach ache.
“However this time there was an indication that he also suffered from a heart disease. A few days ago he had been treated in the Cardiovascular Care Unit, and this morning at around 3 a.m. he had a heart attack and died,” Niesya said.
Irwansyah was buried in Medan on Thursday afternoon. Niesya said there may be a tribute for her father, but it was not yet settled.
Known as a multi-talented musician, his most notable musical project was Suarasama, a pop-meet-ethnomusicology project he created with his wife Rithaony Hutajulu. With Suarasama he released several albums, including Fajar di atas Awan (1998), Rites of Passages (2002) and Lebah (2008). Suarasama had toured around the world, including at the Asia Pasific Performance Exchange (APPEX) in Los Angeles in the United States.
Irwansyah was born in Medan on Dec. 21, 1962. Living in a musical family, he learned to play guitar when he was 5 years old. After mastering classical music, he started to play jazz when he was a teenager. Irwansyah enrolled in the department of ethnomusicology at North Sumatra University (USU) in 1983, and went on to earn a Master’s degree in ethnomusicology from the University of Washington, Seattle, the US. He came back to USU to teach ethnomusicology at the Postgraduate School.
Irwansyah was an important figure in the preservation of North Sumatran traditional music. He was active in preserving traditional instruments such as the taganing (set of five drums) and hasapi (Batak lute). His dedication to traditional music was acknowledged through several awards and fellowships he received from around the world.
“He was working on Suarasama’s newest album titled Timeline, which would be released by Drag City, a label in Chicago, the US. There will be singles released, including a song titled “Rainforest Dream” that will be released this Friday,” Niesya said. The single will be available from all online music stores such as Spotify, JOOX and iTunes.
Niesya said her father always wanted their music studio Rumah Musik Suarasama, which is located on Jl. Stella in Simpang Selayang, Medan Tuntungan, North Sumatra, to be a center for music preservation.
“He wanted Rumah Musik Suarasama to continue his legacy, so that the studio and his instrument collection could be a place to study music, and to help preserve traditional music and culture,” Niesya said.
