Erwin Gutawa: Indonesia's Music Icon

Our next icon is well known as a powerful composer and a great musician. He has the experience on conducting a large scale concert. During his early years, he is a bassist in a band called Karimata. I once saw a recording that shows he played bass in one of Roslan Aziz concert in Stadium Merdeka. His skills in playing the bass can be considered as an expert. Now, he is a legend in Indonesia and his daughter is also an artist. He is Erwin Gutawa, father of Gita Gutawa.

BASSIST TO CONDUCTOR...Starts as a bassist, he finally became a conductor and worked at Royal Albert Hall, London. Photo taken from https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6c/Gutawa_2004_2.JPG/220px-Gutawa_2004_2.JPG

Erwin Gutawa is a musician, composer and a music conductor. He has worked with several Indonesian music icon such as Harvey Malaiholo, Ruth Sahanaya, Chrisye, Titi DJ, Krisdayanti and Rossa. Started as a bassist, he is an architecture student. During 1985 until 1993, he joined Karimata band and played jazz music. He has his own orchestra in 1993. His daughter, Gita Gutawa also involved in music industry.

As a music icon he has achieved many things in his career. During 1992, he won the Midnight Sun Song Festival in Finland with Ruth Sahanaya. His concert, Rockestra received award from Anugerah Musik Indonesia which is the Best Music Arranger. Rockestra concert can be described as unique because the concert mixed orchestra with rock music. The concert involved rock bands such as Slank, Gigi and Dewa with 85 musicians with guest musicians such as Ahmad Albar, Roni Harahap, Jockie Soerjo Prajogo, and Nicky Astria. In 2002, his 40th birthday is celebrated with his 1st solo concert, Konser EG at the Plenary Hall of the Jakarta Convention Center. Chrisye, Ruth Sahanaya, Krisdayanti, Sheila on Seven, and Slank are featured in the concert. He managed to deliver various concerts starting from his solo concert. He finally went to the Royal Albert Hall, England and become a conductor at the London Symphony Orchestra. He is one of the judges for Indonesian Idol's for the 6th season.

Erwin Gutawa can be described as one of the greatest musician that Indonesia has ever had. He can be claimed as a great musician alongside with Ramli M.S and S.Atan. With his knowledge on music and his experience, he is legendary and one and only, Erwin Gutawa.