Telkom University Choir won a proud achievement in a national competition of Nusantara Folklore Festival (FFN) which was held on October 27-28, 2018, at the Auditorium of the Ministry of Public Works and Housing (PUPR), Jakarta. The Nusantara Folklore Festival is held by HIMPUNI (Association of Indonesian state university Alumni Organizations) as a momentum for 90 year of Youth Pledge which fell on October 28, 2018.
The initial stage of registration of the Nusantara Folklore Festival was followed by 56 Universities throughout Indonesia from Aceh, North Sumatra, West Sumatra, South Sumatra, Riau, West Java, Jakarta, Banten, Central Java, Yogyakarta, East Java, North Sulawesi, Southeast Sulawesi , South Sulawesi, East Kalimantan and Papua. The finalist selection method began with a video of folklore song performance, a board juries consisting of Budi Susanto Yohanes, Aning Katamsi, Jessica Amadea, Roni Sugiarto, and Abby Galaby Thahira and the 12 best finalists would be chosen to compete in the final round on October 27 2018. (Source: Nusantara Folklore Festival).
Twelve selected finalists were Student Choirs namely Paragita Student Choir University of Indonesia, Gadjah Mada University Student Choir, Atma Jaya Yogyakarta Student Choir, Cantus Firmus Student Choir Sanata Dharma University Yogyakarta, Diponegoro University Student Choir, IAKN Tarutung Student Choir, IPB Junior Voice Bogor Agricultural Institute, Tarumanagara University Student Choir, University of Hassanudin Student Choir, Swara Satata Cakti Malang State University Student Choiry, Ten November Institute of Technology Student Choir, and Telkom University Choir.
In the final round of the competition, the finalists were required to sing 1 optional choice song and 1 regional song to be judged by professional judges namely Budi Susanto Yohanes, Ken Steven, Agastya Rama Listya, Indra Listyanto and Oni Krisnerwinto. Telkom University Choir presented compulsory songs of choice namely Tanah Airku (created by Sudirman, arr. Ken Steven) and also a regional song titled Benggong (arr. Ken Steven) from Manggarai area.
Telkom University Choir received support from Telkom University Student Affair Director Mr. Andijoko Tjahjono and Manager of Student Welfare and Activities Mr. Achmad Syukur Muharam, and also Telkom University Choir alumni watched Telkom University Choir’s live appearance.
The activity continued with Awarding and Friendship Festival which was followed by all competition finalists and several invited student choirs. At the event, the entire student choir sang several songs such as Dari Toba Sampai Papua (arr. Bayu Nerviadi C., C.), Pemuda (created by Candra Darusman arr. Fero Aldiansya Stefanus), Bangun Pemudi Pemuda (created by A. Simanjuntak arr. Bayu Nerviadi C., C.) and Gemilang (created by Mira Lesmana arr. Wishnu Dewanta).
On October 28, 2018, the program continued with Choral Clinic delivered by three speakers with various topics, the first being Rizka Moeslichan, Kusuma Prabandari and Monica Kumalasari who discussed self-confidence and body language. Followed by a discussion about the development of the present choir, which was presented by Ken Steven. The last is the formation of vocals led by Aning Katamsi. After that it was continued with the distribution of mementos in the form of photos of each team from the committee to each student choir. Choral Clinic is the last series of events and also as the closing of this 2018 Nusantara Folklore Festival.
“For this competition alone, we have been practicing for approximately 1 month after returning from the Soegijapranata Choral Festival competition last time. This competition is quite different from the competition we have participated in before because all teams including conductors must be active students. Even so, we are still confident to be able to show the best, “said Ruri as the person in charge of the FFN team (27/10).
The results of this competition, Telkom University Choir received a Gold Medal with a score of 82.40. With this achievement, Telkom University Choir will continue to improve quality and achievements both in national and international levels. (***)