Arts: Music
Polish singer Jopek mesmerizes Jakartans
By Veeramalla Anjaiah
May 5th 2009
Polish Ambassador to Indonesia Tomasz Lukaszuk, who is fluent in Indonesian, knows what the Indonesian people like the most.
"We have one thing in common between Indonesia and Poland: the people in both countries like music the most," Lukaszuk told The Jakarta Post a few months back. That's why Lukaszuk brought renowned Polish jazz singer Anna Maria Jopek along with her band to Jakarta as part of Polish National Day celebrations in Indonesia.
"It's not normal to have a music concert for the National Day reception. Since Indonesians and Polish people like music, we have to do this," he said. True to his words, more than 500 people turned up Tuesday for the live jazz concert and Polish National Day reception at the Gran Melia Hotel in Jakarta. Jopek and her band kept the audience mesmerized for more than an hour.
"Though many of us don't understand Polish, we enjoyed the show. Music is universal. Everybody can enjoy it," said the Tunisian Embassy's first secretary Rafii Hajji.
Jopek is currently on an Asian tour. "I and my colleagues are very happy to perform here in Jakarta. From Jakarta, we will be going to Singapore and then to Japan," she told the Post. Jopek will be perform again Wednesday at the Gran Melia for a noble cause. Tickets can be purchased before the show in the evening. "The money raised from the concert will be donated to the Yayasan Khasanah Kebajikan orphanage in Jakarta," said Maria Lukaszuk, the ambassador's wife.
Every year, Poland celebrates its National Day on May 3. Since this year May 3 fell on a Sunday, the Polish community in Indonesia chose to celebrate it on Tuesday. On May 3, 1791, Poland adopted its constitution. It was Europe's first modern codified national constitution.
Source: The Jakarta Post
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