D

espite looking like the average Indonesian commoner, Wibi Soerjadi is not an Indonesian, and he’s certainly not ordinary.

Wibi is in fact a highly regarded virtuosic Dutch pianist with a huge bag filled with prizes and awards. And this September, the pianist is coming to the city for two solo concerts.

But why are we talking about September when August’s hot sun is still beating down for two more weeks? If you’re asking for an event a week before Idul Fitri, do us a favor and make your homecoming trip preparation –and contemplation for that matter -- a priority.

Another round of events you can attend just days after Idul Fitri, obviously, are special meetings arranged by your circle of close friends and family, catching up and asking forgiveness from one another, leaving the first days of September occupied.

After everything has started to normalize, nevertheless, is where we hope this article will come in handy.

Wibi was born on March 2, 1970 in Leiden, the Netherlands, to Javanese parents. To talk any further about his talent is unnecessary as the number of awards speak for themselves.

His first recognition goes back to 1985, when he won the first prize at the Princess Christina Concours in The Hague, followed by another first prize at the National Eurovision Competition for young musicians in 1988 and third prize at the International Franz Liszt Piano competition in Utrecht a year later.

He was named extremely talented musician in 1990, winning the Elisabeth Evertsprijs prize, receiving the Echo Klassik Award from the Deutsche Phonoakademie in Hamburg eight years later. His latest award is the Edison Classical Music Award in 1999.

He has played with well-known conductors like Evgeny Svetlanov, Vassili Sinaisky and Sergiu Comissiona, among others, and performed with leading orchestras like the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Orquesta de Valencia, Orquesta Sinfonica Ciudad de Oviedo, Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra Moscow, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orkest, and the highly respected London Philharmonic Orchestra.

Different countries have been astounded by his performances in grand concert halls, Musik Verein and Konzerthaus in Vienna, Musikhalle Hamburg, and other concert halls in Valencia, Verona, Berlin and Beijing. He was also invited to do a concert at Disneyland Resort Paris to commemorate the golden jubilee of Disneyland in Sept. 24, 2005, a major achievement for a classical pianist.

He is loved by both critiques and classical music enthusiasts alike. In fact, people were so moved by his virtuosic playing, he received three standing ovations in his Jan. 27, 2011 concert at Carnegie Hall, one of the most prestigious concert halls with the fiercest audiences on the planet, his second performance there after a notable debut back in Nov. 22, 1996.

Most of his releases have gone Platinum and Gold, a defying phenomenon in classical music. His latest rendition of Elgar, Fibich, Mozart and Chopin can be heard in Mother Melodies, a solo record released in 2008 that has now gone Platinum. But his most successful endeavour was Dance of Devotion, a commissioned piece later played at the peak of the 2008 Olympic Games. The subsequent CD of the same name went Gold.

He suffered from a brief hearing loss at the start of 2009, but made a spectacular comeback on May 29 with a concert that critiques called “breathtaking”, for lack of a better word. Wibi will play two concerts on Sept. 17 and 18, for limited seats at Erasmus Huis in the first evening and a bigger audience at Gedung Kesenian Jakarta on the subsequent evening. Call Erasmus Huis at (+62) 21 524 1069 for ticket reservations and detailed information.