Harry Roesli

Harry Roesli (born 10 September 1951 in Bandung, West Java, Indonesia, died 11 December 2004 in Jakarta, Indonesia) was a well known composer and musician from Indonesia who pioneered contemporary music with consistent delivery of social and humanity critique in a straight forward and transparent way. He was a grandson of Marah Roesli - a well known literature writer in Indonesia. During early 70s, Harry formed a band called "Gang of Harry Roesli" with his friends: Albert Warnerin, Indra Rivai, and Iwan A Rachman. Five years later the group disbanded. Harry also established the Ken Arok theatrical group in 1973, where they did a series of performances with political themes, including the Ken Arok Opera at Taman Ismail Marzuki (TIM) in 1975. Harry was then granted a scholarship by the Dutch government to study at the Rotterdam Conservatorium in the Netherlands. To support his life while studying and expressing his musical talent, he played piano at Indonesian restaurants. In 1981 he achieved a PhD in Music after which he started to lecture at the department of music at Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia (UPI) Bandung and Universitas pasundan Bandung despite his activities to compose music for films. Harry Roesli also actively participated in the development of street performers and the poor, dedicating his house in Bandung as a meeting point. Everyday the discussion was conducted with all street performers and the poor to improve their lives through music. He established Depot Kreasi Seni Bandung (DKSB) as a means to educate them. From his house, he and DKSB organised a series of activities and programs which focus on social critics for the betterment of the government. His song Jangan Menangis Indonesia (Don't Cry Indonesia) taken from the album LTO is a heroic song that accompanied his social protest to the government. During Indonesia Reform, his creation, planned to last 24 hours, was almost banned by the government. The album "Titik Api" combines traditional Indonesian instruments such as gamelan and rebab and pentatonic scales with modern instruments and a prog rock style. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.