Orkes Sinten Remen charms Sarasota audience at RIAF

When you think about the kind of performance you're likely to see at the Ringling International Arts Festival, there's a good chance you think of esoteric and intellectual art that aims to elevate and enlighten.

You're not likely to think of a 10-piece Indonesian band driven by twin ukuleles that plays Lionel Richie songs and the 1960s pop standard "Quando, Quando, Quando."

That's exactly what audiences are being treated to this year at RIAF when they see Orkes Sinten Remen at the Historic Asolo Theater.

Sinten Remen plays mostly songs from various areas and cultures from Indonesia. They mix traditional songs with touches of just about any kind of contemporary Western music you can name, from rock and jazz to meringue and polka.

The hour-long concert is an absolute delight. The band, led by three singers, commands the crowd through infectious music and charmingly imperfect English, leading a two-part singalong and a synchronized dance (or something like dance). When one of the singers announced: "This is our last song," the entire audience groaned in unison.

Besides the singers, the band consists of two ukuleles (actually an Indonesian ukulele called a keroncong, which is also the name of the musical style Sinten Remen plays), a cello played like you've never seen a cello played before, a violin, electric guitar and bass (the bass player's amazing) and percussion.

The band's so good and the style's so fresh they even make Richie's "All Night Long" appealing to a performing arts crowd.

Orkes Sinten Remen has three more performances this weekend. RIAF continues through Sunday with dance, theater, circus, puppetry and music from Southeast Asia, in venues around the Ringling campus.

Details: Through Oct. 18 at Historic Asolo Theater, 5401 Bay Shore Road, Sarasota. Show times: 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, 5 p.m. Sunday. Tickets: $30-$35. Information: 941-358-3180, ringling.org.

Marty Clear, features writer/columnist, can be reached at 941-708-7919. Follow twitter.com/martinclear.

This story was originally published October 16, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Orkes Sinten Remen charms Sarasota audience at RIAF ."