Dira Yulianti Sugandi is an Indonesian singer and actress. She was born in Bandung

Bandung

Bandung is the capital of West Java province in Indonesia, and the country's third largest city, and 2nd largest metropolitan area in Indonesia, with a population of 7.4 million in 2007. Located 768 metres above sea level, approximately 140 km southeast of Jakarta, Bandung has cooler...

, West Java

West Java

West Java , with a population of over 43 million, is the most populous and most densely populated province of Indonesia. Located on the island of Java, it is slightly smaller in area than densely populated Taiwan, but with nearly double the population...

 on July 29, 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 Degree in 2006. She has performed with many Indonesian groups and musicians, such as SOULMATE, Maestro Big Band, Rieka Roslan, SOVA, Imam Praz Quartet, ARAB Jazz, and the Pelita Harapan University Big Band and with foreign musicians such as Incognito

Incognito (band)

Incognito is a British band, as well as one of the members of the United Kingdom's acid jazz movement. Their debut album, Jazz Funk, was released in 1981, with thirteen more albums following, the last of which, Transatlantic RPM, was released in 2010....

 in Bandung

Bandung

Bandung is the capital of West Java province in Indonesia, and the country's third largest city, and 2nd largest metropolitan area in Indonesia, with a population of 7.4 million in 2007. Located 768 metres above sea level, approximately 140 km southeast of Jakarta, Bandung has cooler...

, Surabaya

Surabaya

Surabaya is Indonesia's second-largest city with a population of over 2.7 million , and the capital of the province of East Java...

, Makassar

Makassar

Makassar, is the provincial capital of South Sulawesi, Indonesia, and the largest city on Sulawesi Island. From 1971 to 1999, the city was named Ujung Pandang, after a precolonial fort in the city, and the two names are often used interchangeably...

, Medan

Medan

- Demography :The city is Indonesia's fourth most populous after Jakarta, Surabaya, and Bandung, and Indonesia's largest city outside of Java island. Much of the population lies outside its city limits, especially in Deli Serdang....

 (2002) and in Bali

Bali

Bali is an Indonesian island located in the westernmost end of the Lesser Sunda Islands, lying between Java to the west and Lombok to the east...

, Singapore

Singapore

Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

, Jakarta

Jakarta

Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...

 (2006) and with Keith Martin

Keith Martin

Keith P. Martin, PC, is a physician who was the Member of Parliament for the riding of Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca from 1993 to 2011.-Life and career:...

 in Bandung

Bandung

Bandung is the capital of West Java province in Indonesia, and the country's third largest city, and 2nd largest metropolitan area in Indonesia, with a population of 7.4 million in 2007. Located 768 metres above sea level, approximately 140 km southeast of Jakarta, Bandung has cooler...

 (2005), and with the Yellowjackets

Yellowjackets

Yellowjackets is an American jazz fusion/smooth jazz quartet.-History:The original group, called The Robben Ford Group, was formed in 1977, and consisted of Robben Ford, Russell Ferrante, Jimmy Haslip and Ricky Lawson, all top-notch L.A. session musicians...

 in Jakarta

Jakarta

Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...

 and Bandung

Bandung

Bandung is the capital of West Java province in Indonesia, and the country's third largest city, and 2nd largest metropolitan area in Indonesia, with a population of 7.4 million in 2007. Located 768 metres above sea level, approximately 140 km southeast of Jakarta, Bandung has cooler...

 (2006). In 2009, she was awarded the Indonesian Young Jazz Talent Award at the Jakarta International Java Jazz Festival

Jakarta International Java Jazz Festival

Jakarta International Java Jazz Festival is one of the largest jazz festivals in the world and arguably the biggest in in the Southern Hemisphere, held in Jakarta, Indonesia. The annual jazz festival is held every early March and was designed to be one of the largest jazz festivals globally...

 where she sang a song called Lucky

Lucky (Jason Mraz song)

"Lucky" is a song by Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat. It is the third single from Mraz's third studio album We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things. The song has been on the Billboard charts as well as on the other music charts worldwide....

 in a duet with American singer, Jason Mraz

Jason Mraz

Jason Thomas Mraz , also known as Mr. AZ and Mr. Raz, is an American singer-songwriter. Mraz released his debut album, Waiting for My Rocket to Come, which contained the hit single "The Remedy ", in 2002, but it was not until the release of his second album, "Mr. A-Z", in 2005, that Mraz achieved...

.

Her debut album “Something About the Girl” was produced by Incognito‘s Jean-Paul Maunick a.k.a Bluey

Jean-Paul 'Bluey' Maunick

Jean-Paul 'Bluey' Maunick is a British guitarist, bandleader, composer and record producer. He has led the British acid jazz band Incognito since its formation in 1979. With Incognito, he has released fourteen studio albums as well as a number of live albums, remix albums and compilation albums...

 and was released in 2010 in the UK, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 and Indonesia

Indonesia

Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

. The album features 12 songs, primarily in English, with two cuts in Indonesian including "Kami Cinta Indonesia" (We love Indonesia) written by the late Harry Roesli.

In December 2010, she acted in the musical version of the film "Laskar Pelangi

Laskar Pelangi (film)

Laskar Pelangi is a 2008 Indonesian film adapted from the popular same titled novel by Andrea Hirata. The movie follows a group of 10 schoolboys and their two inspirational teachers as they struggle with poverty and develop hopes for the future in Gantong Village on the farming and tin mining...

" which was shown at Taman Ismail Marzuki Fine Arts Center

Taman Ismail Marzuki

Pusat Kesenian Jakarta Taman Ismail Marzuki or popularly known as Taman Ismail Marzuki is an art and cultural center located in jalan Cikini Raya 73, Central Jakarta, Indonesia. Also within this complex stood Jakarta Art Institute and Jakarta Planetarium...

 in Jakarta

Jakarta

Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...

, sharing the role of role of the teacher, Muslimah, along with two other actresses, Lea Simanjuntak and Ekadeli.

On May 15, 2011, Dira Sugandi performed a duet with Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli

Andrea Bocelli

Andrea Bocelli, is an Italian tenor, multi-instrumentalist and classical crossover artist. Born with poor eyesight, he became blind at the age of twelve following a soccer accident....

 during his first-ever concert in Indonesia

Indonesia

Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

, at the Ritz-Carlton Pacific Place in Jakarta

Jakarta

Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...

.

Dira Sugandi performed at the Anugerah Musik Indonesia (AMI) Awards 2011

AMI Awards 2011

AMI Awards 2011 is a part of Indonesia Music Awarding, Anugerah Musik Indonesia, held on 6 July 2011 in Jakarta for fourteen times. This year, AMI presented 46 categories for Indonesian music people from all part....

, an Indonesian Music Award show on 6 July 2011 in Jakarta.