UNS — Voca Erudita Student Choir (PSM Voca Erudita), Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta, won 7 (seven) awards at the 4th Tokyo International Choir Competition. The international choir competition was held on July 29-31, 2022, in Harumi, Tokyo, Japan. The 4th Tokyo International Choir Competition is an annual competition initiated by Ko Matsushita. After going through the selection stage, Voca Erudita managed to perform in the final stage at Dai Ichi Seimei Hall, Harumi, Tokyo, with 44 participants from 5 (five) different countries.
Voca Erudita participated in 3 (three) of the 9 (nine) categories held in this competition, the F-Mixed Choir, G-Contemporary Music, and H-Folklore Music category. Of the three categories, Voca Erudita was awarded as the Champion of Mixed Choir Category, Champion of Contemporary Category, and Champion of Folklore Category. Additionally, Voca Erudita was also awarded additional titles as the Best Interpretation of Mixed Choir Compulsory Song “Aki Kaze Ni,” Best Interpretation of Contemporary Song Category “Under The Sea,” and Best Interpretation of Baroque Choral Works “Die Himmel Erzahlen Die Ehre Gottes.” Even though Voca Erudita is the only Indonesian representative out of the 6 (six) choir groups who advanced to the Grand Prix stage, the team succeeded in achieving the Grand Champion of the 4th Tokyo International Choir Competition.
Pringgo Widyo Laksono, Ph.D., as the supervising lecturer for the team, said that for TICC 2022 this time, Voca Erudita sent 37 singers, 2 (two) conductors, 1 (one) official, and 1 (one) supervising lecturer. “The preparation has been quite long, about 5 (five) months. The team was fully supported by the Rector of UNS, Prof. Jamal Wiwoho, and obtained sponsorships from numerous parties such as Hutama Karya, PLN, Piero, Solo Paragon, Indofood, Infinito, Rosin Tours, Sritex, the Japanese Study Center, and the general public in Surakarta,” he said during an interview with uns.ac.id on Monday (1/8/2022).
Voca Erudita performed as Indonesia’s representative in the 4th Opening Concert Tokyo International Choir Competition on Thursday (28/7/2022) at the Nihonbashi Community Center, Tokyo, Japan. The Opening Concert was attended by TICC participants as well as Tokyo residents. This opportunity is an honor for Voca Erudita to perform in this opening concert with 2 (two) choir groups from Japan. “Voca Erudita performs 6 (six) songs in various styles, including ‘Indonesia Pusaka,’ Besame Mucho (Spanish song), Segalariak (Basque song), Paris Barantai (Banjar folksong, Kalimantan), Luk Luk Lumbu (East Java), and Bungong Jeumpa (Aceh),” he added.
He added that the opening concert also serves as the media for Voca Erudita to carry out cultural missions by performing Indonesia’s folk songs along with the regional ethnic’s choreographies. In each international competition, Voca Erudita always carries the mission of introducing Indonesian culture to the International scene through songs and choreography performed. For this event, Voca Erudita performed in the third session and the closing performance at the opening concert, along with Cahyo Wisnu Rubiyanto, UNS alumnus who is currently pursuing his Doctoral degree at Gifu University, Japan, as a Japanese language MC during the performance. Therefore, the meaning of each song can be clearly conveyed to the audience.
The Voca Erudita’s performance also amazed the audience, proved with lively applause and cheers such as “Subarashii,” which means “Excellent,” and even there were several spectators who cried while listening to Indonesian Heritage songs. One of the Japanese residents, Kawai Suzuki, said that the song performance and dance movements performed by Voca Erudita were highly harmonious. “All the songs are excellent and awesome, and the dance moves make the song more lively, very cool,” he said. Humas UNS
Reporter: Bayu Aji Prasetya
Editor: Dwi Hastuti