We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Regina Tanujaya. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Regina below.
Regina, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.
The piano has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. I started taking piano lessons when I was four years old. Since then, practicing piano is like a daily habit. I might have a day off here and there, but it is an essential part of my daily life growing up. I love playing music so much that later on I took lessons in violin, drums, guitar, and voice, but piano took my heart and I went through with it!
Of course, it wasn’t always easy and fun. People might imagine that my childhood was filled with cheerful and fun music making every day but, being a classical pianist is like being an athlete. We need many hours of training, practice, and studying. There needs to be discipline and consistency. Dedicating this much time and energy into something is not easy for a child. My parents played a huge role on my success because they pushed me and held me accountable.
Despite having some hard times, the sense of accomplishment and pride after achieving something I have worked so hard on is what gets me to keep doing what I am doing. I performed quite a bit since I was young, then I went to be a music major in college, got a master’s degree, and eventually I earned a Doctor of Musical Arts degree and now teaching as a college professor.
Growing up, I never thought that I would go this far, but my passion for music is endless and I kept seeking to learn and to do more of it. I can’t get enough of the excitement and thrill when I can finally share to others the music that I’m passionate about, and what I have been dedicating my time and energy for. It’s like when you want to tell people your favorite food or place to your friends and family, you want to share the joy. In a way, there was not a point when I decided to pursue an artistic path professionally, but rather my artistic journey brought me to this point, and I’m very grateful for it.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
My name is Regina Tanujaya and I am a pianist and a pedagogue currently based in Kansas City. As a pianist, I do solo performances, collaborative performances, and chamber music in the US and abroad. I mainly perform classical music, but I am very open to collaboration with other genres and I’m always trying to find ways to make classical music more relatable to the general public.
Around the US, I perform some world-premieres of works by emerging American composers. Some of my recent performances include performing with the Topeka Symphony Orchestra, performing at the Kansas Public Radio, collaborating with other musicians for various projects and promoting my duo ensemble, Neo-Art Piano Duo. I am also passionate about sharing the music of Indonesia, the country I am from.
As a pianist, I don’t only perform, but I also do some arranging and composing. One of my latest projects is to arrange Indonesian folk songs for solo piano and to make it accessible to pre-college level pianists to learn. For now, I have a few of them available for free to download on my website. My hope is that more teachers will incorporate Asian music into their music teaching process and students will also have access to them.
As an educator, I currently teach at two collegiate level institutions, MidAmerica Nazarene University and Kansas City Kansas Community College. I also occasionally write articles, present seminars/webinars for music publications/organizations as resources to educate other musicians and other music educators around the world. Recently, I had an article about music of Indonesia and my recent project of arranging the Indonesian folk songs published on the 2023 summer issue of The Triangle, a publication of Mu Phi Epsilon music fraternity.
In conclusion, my life as a pianist also includes many other things other than just performing music. Educating is a big part of being a pianist for me because I think in order for my art to be appreciated, my audience needs to somehow understand the art itself.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
My mission has always been to share what I do with others, to reach larger audience, and to connect with my audience. I realize that classical music is not everyone’s cup of tea, so I would love to introduce the beauty of it to as many people as I can! I found that many people don’t understand classical music and I know that it is not the most accessible genre of music. Therefore, when I’m performing, I always try to also speak and share my thoughts on the music, making it more accessible and relatable to the general public. As mentioned before, I think in order for my art to be appreciated, my audience needs to somehow understand the art itself.
At the moment, one mission that I would always try to incorporate to my musical activities are to introduce the music of Indonesia. There are so many interesting and exciting things about it and I think that generally my audience appreciates learning about it. Sharing my culture through music also helps me connect with my audience.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
Being acknowledged and recognized for my work. I’m not going to lie; it feels good to know that all the hard work and hours of labor are appreciated. As a musician, often I do hours of work without knowing if it’s going to be successful (or even fruitful financially). So, when someone approached me after a performance and took the time to tell me how much they enjoyed my performance, seeing their faces glow with inspirations, it means the world to me.
Another plus is that being a creative means that I am never bored. There are constantly ideas on what I would like to do, just not enough time to do them all!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.reginatanujaya.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reginatanujaya
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/reginatanujayapiano/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/regina_tanujaya
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/reginatanujaya