Wednesday, November 13, 1996
MUSIC:
Juilliard School graduate is among last students of great
HorowitzBy Susan Lee
Daily Bruin Contributor
Classical music. Two words guaranteed to make any rock-loving,
hip hop-spouting college student pause and any pianist perk up.
Yet for classical pianist Eduardus Halim, classical music is his
life. He looks at the genre with a critical eye  he praises
some artists and is less than enthusiastic toward others.
Clarifying himself, Halim says in a warm, lilting accent, "There
are certain degrees of like I have for certain pieces. Like Chopin
and Mozart  I love a majority of their work," he smiles. "But
Prokofiev … I mean, he has some beautiful things, but …"
It is this frankness and openness that make it easy to see why
Halim is known for his charisma as a pianist. Known for combining
his impeccable piano technique with dramatic flair, the
Indonesian-born pianist will perform a collection of classical
works Friday at UCLA.
Although his hometown of Bandung had no music program, Halim
started lessons in violin, piano and dance before realizing that
his talent was in piano.
Similarly, his piano teacher recognized his ability and made
sure his family realized their son’s potential. Subsequently, his
first recital was at age 13.
"My family was always supportive of me. I was in a family of
six; four brothers and two sisters and I was the fourth child …
but all of us have played piano sometime in our life for some
years. My mother’s logic was ‘if he’s this good, then I have five
more,’" Halim chuckles.
Halim came to America in 1980 for "the sole purpose of studying
music." He then went on to earn both his bachelor’s and master’s
degrees from the Juilliard School of Music.
Despite being thrown into another culture, Halim had no trouble
adjusting even though he came to the U.S. not speaking English.
"There were certainly a lot of adjustments but I was fine … I
thought I was free to do anything," Halim says.
The same energy that let him live out the American dream might
also explain Halim’s spirit and expressive energy onstage. He has
often been complimented for his interpretations of various
symphonic pieces, including Chopin’s Concerto in F minor and
Liszt’s E-flat concerto.
"When I play, each piece has different emotions and degrees of
feeling  sorrow, happiness … a whole gamut of emotions
depending on the piece," Halim explains. "To achieve this, the mind
must be very good and must have all the elements (like technique)
in place and evenly well-balanced."
Halim aims to keep his life balanced by being involved with his
family and 11-month-old son. His philosophy is very simple, "I
enjoy many things and in many ways all these things help to shape
me as a person."
Known for his technical mastery and showmanship in Romantic
pieces, his debut performance in 1987 as the winner of the
Juilliard School’s William Petschek Debut Award held the audience
in awe.
However, Halim has also held other artists in awe as well. While
playing in Sydney in 1984, Halim impressed musician Harold
Schonberg enough that Schonberg wrote to piano great Vladimir
Horowitz about Halim. Little did Halim know that he would become
one of Horowitz’s last and most famous students.
However, it was not until 1988 that Halim finally met Horowitz
as part of a class of students from Juilliard. After this first
meeting, Horowitz and Halim struck up a friendship and the rest is
history.
"The funny thing was Mr. Horowitz wasn’t aware of what Schonberg
wrote until later, at an October party for Horowitz Â
Schonberg knew of course," Halim laughs. "The friendship has
affected my life tremendously. In some ways it’s the equivalent of
meeting someone like Picasso, it’s something like being an
apprentice. Certainly it’s a learning experience and to spend even
one day alone with lessons from him is very inspiring."
In addition to a host of other various awards and recitals in
concert halls across the world, Halim was also awarded the Young
Concert Artists International Auditions Award and his artistry has
touched many orchestras and symphonic groups.
"The piano is like an extension of myself  the better I
feel, the better I get," Halim says. "It’s a natural instrument and
the range of emotion that can be created on it is tremendous."
Despite all these successes, Halim simply says, "I would very
much like if they (the general audience) just enjoy the music and
the playing. The main thing is that they hopefully feel the same
way I feel; if I achieve that, I consider myself successful."
MUSIC: Eduardus Halim performs Friday at 8 p.m. at Schoenberg
Hall. TIX: $25, $9 for students. For more info, call 825-2101.
KEVIN FUNABASHI/ICM Artists
Eduardus Halim will perform at Schoenberg Hall.