UNAIR NEWS – Rumput Band, an American band performed in ”Rabu Keroncong (Keroncong Wednesday)” event on July 11, at Siti Parwati Room, Faculty of Humanities (FIB), Universitas Airlangga. The event is a project of Rumput Band in collaboration with AMINEF (American Indonesian Exchange Foundation). It is an effort to promote Fullbright scholarship to Indonesian students as well as Rumput Band Indonesian tour.

“The audience seemed really enjoyed keroncong music, ‘said Hannah Standiford, vocalist of Rumput Band.

Cuk, cak, percussion, cello, guitar, bass, flute, fiddle, and ukelele bass played in unison with harmonica chant in Walang Kekek and Caping Gunung. Uniquely, the music is presented with a touch of puppeter and crankie.

There are 13 players in the band. They are Danis Sugiyanto, Hannah Standiford, Edward Breitner, Kyle Dosier, Greyson Goodenow, Brian Larson, Andy McGraw, John Priestley, Natalie Quick,  Beth Reid, Brandon Simmons, Paul Willson, and Jessica Zike.

Danis who is also from Indonesia is the Guest Artistic Director. The man from Solo has been a Fullbright scholarship recipient. He had the chance to teach Javanese gamelan at William & Mary and the University of Richmond.

“Most of our players used to be members of Gamelan Raga Kusuma from Solo,” said Hannah.

Hannah, who is fluent in Indonesian, revealed that Rumput Band combines old-time string band music from United States and British Isles with Javanese gamelan. When she was asked why choose ”Rumput” as the name of the band, according to her, the personnel were inspired by grass philosophy.

“Grass is a weatherproof plant. When there is a long drought and water is hard to come by, the grass can survive. Although it looks wilted and yellow, the grass always keeps food reserves in the root rhizomes. And, when the rain arrives, slowly the grass will turn green again, ” she explained.

Rabu Keroncong is aimed to introduce Fullbright scholarships given by AMINEF to students in Surabaya. The scholarship is intended for Indonesian students to study in the United States.

“It is to facilitate Indonesian students to study in the United States,” Fikri Ahmad Maulana, one of the organizers of Rabu Keroncong.

AMINEF annually provides over 250 scholarships to Indonesian students. They are given opportunities to study, teach, or conduct original research in various disciplines but medical science related to patient care or medical training. (*)

Author: Tunjung Senja Widuri

Editor: Feri Fenoria Rifa’i