Dira Sugandi or DIRA (born 29 July 1979) is an Indonesian singer.

Early life

She was born in

Bandung Bandung is the capital city of the West Java province of Indonesia. Located on the island of Java, the city is the List of Indonesian cities by population, fourth-most populous city and fourth largest city in Indonesia after Jakarta, Surabay ...

West Java West Java (, ) is an Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, province on the western part of the island of Java, with its provincial capital in Bandung. West Java is bordered by the province of Banten and the country's capital region of Jakarta to t ...

on 29 July 1979 into a family with a strong singing tradition (both her mother and grandmother were singers). She began her singing career as a vocal performance major in the Music Department at Pelita Harapan, earning her bachelor's degree in 2006.

Career

DIRA is considered one of the well-established singers and actress in Indonesia. She is known for her powerful, soulful yet airy voice which complements her style of singing. Throughout her singing career she has shared the stage with some of the world's top acts such as Andrea Bocelli, David Foster, Jason Mraz, Diane Warren, and George Duke. DIRA's debut album “Something About the Girl” was produced by Jean-Paul Maunick a.k.a. Bluey, leader of INCOGNITO a British Acid Jazz Band and was released in 2010 and distributed throughout UK, Japan, Europe, US and Indonesia. The album was nominated by UK Soultracks for Best Independent Album of The Year 2010 and Dira was also nominated for Best Female Vocalist 2010. The album features 14 songs, primarily in English, with two cuts in Indonesian "Kucemburu" and "''Kami Cinta Indonesia''" (We love Indonesia) written by Harry Roesli. In December 2010, she acted in the musical version of the film " ''Laskar Pelangi''" which was shown at Taman Ismail Marzuki Fine Arts Center in

Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...

, sharing the role of the teacher, Muslimah, along with two other actresses, Lea Simanjuntak and Ekadeli. On 15 May 2011, Dira Sugandi performed a duet with Italian tenor

Andrea Bocelli Andrea Bocelli (; born 22 September 1958) is an Italian tenor. He rose to fame in 1994 after winning the newcomers' section of the 44th Sanremo Music Festival performing " Il mare calmo della sera". Since 1994, Bocelli has recorded 15 solo st ...

during his first-ever concert in

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

, at the Ritz-Carlton Pacific Place in

. Dira Sugandi performed at the Anugerah Musik Indonesia (AMI) Awards 2011, an Indonesian Music Award show on 6 July 2011 in Jakarta.

Album

* ''Something About the Girl'' (2010) * ''Something About the Girl - Deluxe Version'' (2021)

Single

* ''Langit/Pelangi - Double Single'' (2017) * ''Malaikat Kecilku - Single'' (2017) * ''Seribu Tahun Lagi - Single'' (2021) *Back In Time - Single (2021)

Movie

* ''9 Summers 10 Autumns'' (2013) * '' In The Absence of the Sun'' (2014) * ''A World Without - Netflix'' (2021)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sugandi, Dira Living people 1979 births English-language singers from Indonesia Indonesian jazz musicians Indonesian jazz singers 21st-century Indonesian women singers Indonesian soul singers