UNS — Student Choir (PSM) Voca Erudita, Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta presented a great performance at the end of 2021. Their hybrid concert “Dandelion: Harmony of the New Chapter” was broadcasted for free on Voca Erudita UNS YouTube channel, Sunday (12/12/2021).
Dandelion Concert was scheduled on 26 June 2021, which was delayed following the limitation of community activities police implemented on June 2021 to bring down Covid-19 Delta variant cases in Indonesia. The delay did not stop the choir, who continued training and communicating with the campus to hold their grand performance. Gabrielle Kirsten Ashteen, the Lead of Voca Erudita, admitted that the delay gave them a lesson that they could have better preparation for the concert. “We come to think what we have not been able to think, oh we need this and that, so we could prepare it,” Gaby, her short name, explained.
Dandelion Concert is a follow-up of Anfaya Concert held last year by the same team online. Dandelion was selected because the flower that looks fragile could sprout into plants even on barren lands. This philosophy represents PSM Voca Erudita members who are spread into their hometown due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Dandelion looks fragile and easily blown by winds actually have strong petals. These petals are like our singers who once together in Solo then blown away by the pandemic to their hometown. Although the flower falls on barren lands, dandelion will grow. We want to be like this flower; wherever we are, we can become one again. Although separated, we could present work through this hybrid method,” Gaby explained.
The hybrid concept used in the concert combined an offline concert in Radio Republik Indonesia (RRI) Auditorium Surakarta and an online concert broadcasted through the Zoom video conference app. With 109 singers participating offline and online, the group was supervised by Prof. Dr. Ir. Susi Susmartini, MSIE., and Dr. Guntur Riyanto, M.Si., presented seven songs greatly with short videos in between their performance. The songs and videos they brought into the concert were all related from the beginning to the end.
“I hope that this concert could cheer up all Indonesian people, especially choir activists. (Although) we are in a pandemic, (but) never stop creating and hoping, we make innovations that could (create) new breakthrough,” Gaby concluded. Humas UNS
Reporter: Ida Fitriyah
Editor: Dwi Hastuti