AE Sugeng Dwiharso is one of them. Widely known as Ages Biola, the founder of Taman Suropati Chamber has also formed a keroncong ensemble group to both preserve and develop the music.

Batavia Mood, as it is called, has seen a gradual increase in fans and aspiring keroncong musicians since its establishment on Aug. 7, 2009.

The group regularly plays side by side with the Taman Suropati string orchestra and have been invited to play at other public places, such as the Galeri Indonesia Kaya in Grand Indonesia shopping mall, Central Jakarta.

Ages is the leader and conductor and sometimes plays the guitar or violin, while Hendra is on cak (a ukulele with metal strings) and Dwi is on cuk (a ukulele with nylon strings). Twin brothers Vino and Visco are on cello and violin, respectively, while Prapto plays contrabass. Zulkifli is the guitarist and Sony is on the flute.

Other than Ages, the Batavia Mood musicians are still in their early 20s and currently the mentors for the park orchestra.

'€œAt first they felt reluctant to play keroncong because of its image. But they found the music requires certain skills and not just anybody can play it. They told me that it was actually the music that found them. They have made a commitment to play only keroncong since then,'€ Ages said.

At the Grand Indonesia performance they played oldies and pop songs, adding the significant tunes of keroncong '€” the crong-crong sound '€” in the new arrangement.

They also played '€œEncang Encing'€, a song in the native Jakarta Betawi dialect that was written and sung by Ages.

They were also invited to perform in a shopping mall in Bekasi, West Java, on a Sunday afternoon.

Dozens of mall visitors gathered around the stage and some of them requested songs.

The singer during the performance at the mall was 11-year-old Tiara, who is in her final year at state elementary school SDN Cipinang Muara.

Tiara said she became familiar with keroncong at an early age. '€œMy mother used to sing me lullabies with keroncong songs,'€ she said.

She was also one of the violinists for the Taman Suropati orchestra and during practice, she said, she was lured to join the keroncong ensemble practicing on the other side of the park.

Batavia Mood regularly practices every Sunday starting at 1:30 p.m. at the Suropati Park.

At the mall, she sang the keroncong rendition of the upbeat song '€œGang Kelinci'€ (Rabbit Alley) and the jazzy '€œL.O.V.E'€.

After the group played the instrumental '€œThe Entertainer'€, one audience member came forward and sang '€œDewi Murni'€.

'€œI'€™m a keroncong fan. It'€™s a good thing they play keroncong here. I'€™m quite surprised,'€ said Bambang, a Bekasi resident who came with his wife Resti to check out the newly opened mall.

Ages said the public enthusiasm was the fuel that kept him and his pupils going.

They shared their love for the music with teenagers through their Keroncong Goes to School program.

Currently, they have entered eight schools in Jakarta including Santa Ursula, Pangudi Luhur, Tarakanita and Al-Ikhsan schools, teaching hundreds of interested teachers and students.

The schools are currently forming their own keroncong ensembles.

'€œAnd they got addicted to the music. When one starts to play keroncong, it'€™s impossible to leave it,'€ said Ages.

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