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DO YOU miss classical music if you live in some cities in Indonesia where classical music has not existed yet? Or do you want to have a weekend escape and listen to the local talents performing classical music? Starting this month of August 2025, your wish is fulfilled.
While having a weekend escape, you might like to listen to the young classical musicians participating at the Kompetisi Piano Nusantara Plus ( KPN+ ) when you are not outdoors admiring the landscape.
The Nusantara Piano Competition was created by the composer Ananda Sukarlan (“one of the world’s leading pianists, at the forefront of championing new piano music” according to the Sydney Morning Herald since 2016 in only a few cities, but was on hiatus during the pandemic.
Then last year it was relaunched with a “plus”. The word “plus” here indicates that this is not only for piano but for all instruments, including classical vocals. KPN+ is intended for younger musicians, the terms and conditions are lighter than the Ananda Sukarlan Award (ASA), the most prestigious classical music competition in Indonesia. It is hoped that KPN+ can be a preparation event for the next edition of ASA.
This year’s KPN+ will take place in 11 cities, starting with Medan (North Sumatra). Registrations are still open to participate. The winners of the KPN+ of each city / region are entitled to enter the grand final round in Jakarta on December 13 & 14th, 2025, and it will be decided who will receive the “Golden Tickets to Ananda Sukarlan Award (ASA)”, which allow them to advance directly to the final round of Indonesia’s most difficult and demanding competition, bypassing the previous rounds.
The schedule for the semi-final round of the Nusantara Plus Piano Competition is: Medan on August 30-31st, Bandung September 7th, Padang Panjang September 20th, Bekasi September 27-28th, Tangerang October 5th, Bandar Lampung October 19th, Pontianak October 26th, Palembang November 2nd, Surabaya November 23rd, Yogyakarta November 29th and finally Jakarta December 7th.
In Medan, Ananda Sukarlan will perform in a concert on August 31st alongside the winners of the 2024 KPN+ competition from Medan, who also won the ASA 2025: 15-year-old violinist Veeshan Nathaniel Tandino and pianist Jeane Halim. The concert, which begins at 2:00 PM, will take place at the Avia Music Center at Setia Budi, and will also feature the winners of the 2025 KPN+ Medan region, where the competition will take place the previous day, August 30th, at the same venue.
Last year alone there were 477 participants, and we have organizing partners in 8 cities. This year more cities are interested in joining, including cities that were previously “untouched” by classical music, such as Padang Panjang (which is just about 1 hour from Padang the capital of West Sumatra), Pontianak and Bandar Lampung have also joined the series of Classical Music Competitions which are now the largest in Indonesia: in Bandar Lampung it will be held on October 19 while Pontianak on October 26 at the Ballroom of the Aston Pontianak Hotel.
In 2024, Palembang even broke the record for participants with 119 musicians, and of course this year it will be held again. This is a new breakthrough that will be very important for the “epidemic” of classical music in Indonesia.
“Last year, the winners of the KPN+ Poetic Song category included soprano Ratnaganadi Paramita who is also an American-trained neuroscientist, Fae Bernice Robin who also holds the title of Puteri Anak Indonesia Pendidikan 2023 from Palembang who is also our youngest winner, and baritone Wirawan Cuanda who holds a Masters in Vocals from the University of York, England and for the past few months they have performed at various concerts and have attracted a lot of public attention,” said Ananda Sukarlan.
Ananda Sukarlan urged participants to showcase “local wisdom” in their repertoire. “For example, for Padang Panjang, vocalists can choose poetic songs based on poems from West Sumatran poets such as Heru Joni Putra, Muhammad Subhan, Riri Satria, Ubai Dillah Al Anshori. This is important because for me, artists must also act as ambassadors of their native culture, who then become ambassadors of their country when they perform abroad,” said the pianist who is known for his virtuosic works for piano “Rapsodia Nusantara”.
The West Sumatra region Nusantara Plus Piano Competition will be at ISI Padangpanjang Hoerijah Adam Concert Hall, organized by the WESSA (West Sumatra Sound Aesthetic) Community, the only classical music community in West Sumatra.
One of its founders is viola player Sendi Orysal, the only musician from West Sumatra who was accepted as a member of the G20 Orchestra, a symphony orchestra formed when Indonesia hosted the 2022 G20 Summit. This orchestra consists of musicians from 20 G20 member countries. Sendi himself will also perform at the KPN+ closing concert on September 20th. [traveltext.id/photo special]
