Cradled in a merging cultural hybridism in Indonesia, it is for Alfian a blasphemy to cage music in one single box. Growing up with pop, rock, Indonesian folk and traditional music, he studied classical music at home from the age of 9 with his father Yoesbar Djaelani, who taught him harmony, counterpoint and orchestration before he even started to play the cello at the age of 13.

 

Alfian Emir Adytia studied cello in Sekolah Menengah Musik Yogyakarta (High School of Music Yogyakarta) in 2008-2011 with Brigida Berta, Institut Seni Indonesia Yogyakarta (Indonesian Institute of the Arts Yogyakarta) in 2011-2016 with Asep Hidayat and Budi Ngurah and Royal Conservatoire of The Hague in 2017-2019 with Larissa Groeneveld. In parallel, he trained in cello lessons and masterclasses from external teachers such as Maarten Mostert, Jeroen Den Herder, Gavriel Lipkind, Harro Ruijsenaars, Li Wei Qin, Ran Varon, Matthias Diener, Stefanie Wägner and Marcin Szawelski. These process led Alfian to several achievements such as The Best Performance Prize in the 2013 Zhang Jia Jie International Country Music Week (China), 2nd prize in 2018 Asten Classic Award (The Netherlands), 1st prize in 2018 Willem Twee Chamber Music Competition (The Netherlands) and Artist-in-Residence of the 2021 International Cello Festival Zutphen. A classical training that didn’t stop Alfian from playing Metallica and Bach with the same intensity. A borderless genre sensitivity that we can find in the wide range of  festivals and orchestras in which he performed such as Amsterdam Cello Biënnale, Amsterdam Minimal Music Festival, Nationaal Jeugdhorkest, Dordrechts Kamerorkest, Jakarta Simfonia Orchestra, Nusantara Symphony Orchestra, Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra, Southeast Asian Youth Orchestra and Wind Ensemble, Hong Kong New Music Ensemble, Yogyakarta Contemporary Music Festival, Festival Dag In De Branding, Bachfestival Dordrecht, Jazz In De Gracht, Opera Forward Festival, Gaudeamus Muziekweek and Tong Tong Fair. 

 

Alfian’s wide range experience as a cellist nurtured his approach to composition with borderless influences. Having the opportunity to study composition with Martijn Padding, Alfian composed various music for solo instrument, ensembles, songs, electronics and orchestra. The tireless disciplines of composing small daily tasks have brought him to win 1st prize in Composition Competition 50 Years Of Blessings Avip Priatna in 2016 (Jakarta), a honorary mention in 2022 Bartók World Competition for Composition, being featured in Spitfire Audio LABS Community Playlist in June 2022 and has been commissioned by World Opera Lab Amsterdam, Cello Academie Zutphen, Kompas Gramedia, Jakarta Concert Orchestra, Jakarta City Philharmonic and ISI Yogyakarta Student Orchestra. All these roads led Alfian to produce six albums that express his vision of syncretism : - Nachtmusik (2016), ANIMINIMAL (2019), Complete Beethoven Sonatas for Piano & Cello (2020), Death of Beauty (2021), Dendang (2021) and Textures (2022).