TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
At a Glimpse: Meda Kawu: Loving the spotlight
Meda Kawu: (Courtesy of Meda Kawu)Meda Kawu, a bright new musical star, is rising fast
Change Size
Meda Kawu: (Courtesy of Meda Kawu) (Courtesy of Meda Kawu)
Meda Kawu: (Courtesy of Meda Kawu)
Meda Kawu, a bright new musical star, is rising fast.
Her name and lovely face now regularly appears in magazines or on television. Her sweet voice may soon be heard everywhere because she is currently promoting her first CD, Single People in the World.
The CD, which contains songs written by Billy Simpson, has received great reviews, with Ayu Utami saying that 'her sweet and gentle voice recalls a mother singing lullabies and that the coming CD is eagerly anticipated' in her review for Rolling Stone magazine.
Recently, Meda got a wonderful surprise while appearing on MetroTV's prime-time program 8 ' 11, when during the final segment the producer asked the anchors to interview her about her album.
'They rarely do this, and in fact, often leave before the performer has finished their last song, but I could see they were enjoying my music. A performance always makes my day. I love being on the stage, singing, laughing and talking with my band and my audience,' Meda said.
A performance, she said, was a challenge for her, especially when she had to perform an Indonesian song in a non-Indonesian speaking country, which would give her goose bumps before she went on stage.
She recalled her performance in Adelaide, Australia, where she sang the song 'Negeri Laskar Pelangi' (Land of the Rainbow Warriors) written by Andrea Hirata. At that time, the entire audience was Australian, including renowned author of Schindler's Ark, Thomas Keneally.
'I knew they would not understand the lyrics, but then I thought to myself that music is a universal language ' the audience could still enjoy the melody and the singing,' Meda says.
'And the audience was very attentive. When I finished, I heard clapping, not only from the audience in front of me, but from behind. When I turned back, I saw the waiters, the chefs and others, had also emerged from their workplaces to listen.'
The lyrics of 'Single People in the World', a song from her new album, encourage people not to feel lonely or left out if they are not in a relationship, but instead to grasp the situation with enthusiasm ' see it as a golden opportunity to develop themselves as individuals, take up study, pursue hobbies or travel .
The singer, who is always busy but enjoys her work as much as most people enjoy their recreational activities, is a shining example of the song. She is fulfilled by her 'two different lives' ' first as a musician, second as the manager of Andrea Hirata Kata Museum at Gantong village on Belitung Island.
Meda, who started performing at the age of three, singing in front of people at a Christmas Eve dinner, began her professional career in earnest, when she was a backing singer in the Aminoto Kosin Orchestra.
With the orchestra, she had the opportunity to perform with George Benson, when the legendary singer performed at the Java Jazz Festival in 2010. The backing vocalists were led by Benson's own vocal director.
'I saw how he did everything, and how disciplined they all were,' she said.
Like so many Indonesians, Meda loved Andrea Hirata's best-selling book Laskar Pelangi (The Rainbow Warriors). She took a holiday on Belitung Island in 2009, where she was lucky enough to meet and talk with the author himself.
Soon, they found a common interest in their mutual love of music. He told her of his plans to hold an arts festival in his home village, Gantong, in November 2010. Before she knew it, Meda had been signed on as the festival's coordinator.
She soon fell in love with the little village of Gantong and its people. She has also recently taken over management of the museum to allow Andrea to focus on his writing. The museum, which at first was a gallery and memorabilia shop, is still a work in progress but is already welcoming many visitors.
Meda said that she often travelled with Andrea on his trips abroad to promote his book, as it has now been published in 100 countries. '[But] I'll only go if I can get an opportunity to sing. Music is my first priority,' she says.
In 2012 she recorded a CD to
accompany the Laskar Pelangi Song Book ' songs written by Andrea Hirata, about his island home. They come in a package, which also contains the music sheet, and are meant for use by teachers in Indonesian schools.
When in Gantong, Meda ' who divides her life and time between Jakarta and Belitung ' teaches music, particularly jazz style, to some talented keyboard and guitar players who have never had the opportunity to have any formal instruction. Before moving to Jakarta, she worked as principal and manager of an English language college in East Java capital Surabaya, and she is fluent in English.
'I am so interested in children and education, and I think I can perhaps be a teacher later, but for now I should focus on my first love ' singing.'
