Daeng Sutigna

angklung (winkipedia)

My hero is Daeng Soetigna, a Musician. I admire him because of his dedication to Indonesia Music Instruments, especially Angklung. He was Born in Garut, West Java, 13th May 1908. Daeng was keen on Angklung in his childhood. After he graduated from Kweekschool (1928), he become a teacher in Schakel School Cianjur, West Java (1928-1932), and in 1932 until 1942 he moved to Kuningan West Java and taught in HIS Kuningan, Jawa Barat. In this city he studied Angklung more deeply.

Daeng Soetigna (www.indonesiaberprestasi.we.id)

Sundanese people know him as a founder of Angklung diatonic scale. It started when he bought an Angklung Pentatonic from someone. He felt that Angklung was a sound of nature. He thought if he made an Angklung Diatonic, any various music could be played. He started worked and learned about angklung from his teacher named Djaya.

Encel, his nickname, taught that angklung diatonic are communicative and easy to learn. At the beginning, he introduced angklung only in front of Boy Scouts in Kuningan. They really enjoyed it, after that Angklung became one of the extra-curriculum in the school.

Since 1955, he was invited to perform his angklung ensemble. Asian African Conference was his first formal concert, In 1964, he performed in World Fair New York, United States, where he conducted music performed in Paviliun Indonesia for 8 months and introduced angklung around the world. Indonesia Government gave him some medals: West Java Governor (1966), Jakarta Governor(1968), Satya Lencana Budaya from President of Indonesia Soeharto (1968, and Anugerah Bintang Budaya Parama Dharma (2007) from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Daeng Sutisna passed away in Bandung, West Java, in 1984. Nowadays angklung is very familiar with not only Indonesian people but also people around the world. I am really proud of him, and I will practice and introduce angklung around the world.