The first half of July brought lots of upbeat news on the achievements of Indonesian choirs at competitions abroad, with no fewer than seven choirs showing their excellence internationally.

Many people still associate choirs with church activities. Ask any Europeans about choirs and the first thing that comes to their mind is titles such as Agnus Dei or Salve Regina. The most secular would be Beethoven’s Ode to Joy or Gaudeamus Igitur, an academic commercium song usually sung at graduation events.

In fact, the underlying idea of choir activity is togetherness, both in times of joy and sorrow. We celebrate joy together, we mourn together, we pray together. But Indonesians have one great asset: a huge resource of folk music to be developed, arranged and adapted for choirs.

Most folk songs were originally sung by groups and deal with communal themes and issues of a tribe or of society at large.

The borrowing of folk music for choir doesn’t involve only the music; It can be (and often is) accompanied by specific costumes and choreography, not necessarily to be presented in their original form, as the music is not presented in its original monodic melody either.

Just within the first half of July, no fewer than seven Indonesian choirs showed their excellence internationally.

Observing their success, it is clear that the folk category remains the strongest point for Indonesian choirs, thanks their unique melodic scales, harmony and intriguing rhythms that often are still exotic to Westerners.

The latest news came from the Laurea Mundi International Choir Festival and Competition in Budapest. The Gema Swara Pesona STP Trisakti choir, conducted by Rainier Revireino, won first prize in the Mixed Choir category, and second prize in the Folklore Grand Prix on July 12.

The Pangudi Luhur Youth Choir was awarded the first prize in the children’s folk song choir category, third prize in the senior children’s choir category, and given its high marks was also awarded the Grand Prix Champion Children’s Choir of the World at the Llangolen International Musical Eisteddfod held in Wales, UK from July 7-10. The Best Conductor Award of this year’s event also went to the group’s conductor, Sonja Simanjuntak.

Ivan Yohan - Courtesy of Norman Fideli

The Universitas Atma Jaya Yogyakarta Student Choir (PSM UAJY), conducted by Raymundus Leonardo, excelled at the ninth World Choir Games (WCG), held at the Bolshoi Ice Dome at the Olympic Park in Sochi, Russia.

PSM UAJY amassed two gold medals (for the categories of Mixed Youth Choir and Scenic Folklore Choir) and a silver medal for the Scenic Pop/Show Choir category.

Their special attraction lies, apart from their vocal techniques, in their traditional Dayak costumes from Kalimantan and the use of the traditional instruments sape and jimbe, which accompanied them while singing traditional Dayak songs “Oh Adingkoh” and “Bawi Kuwu Tumbang Rakumpit”.

The Universitas Parahyangan Student Choir (PSM Unpar) this year stunned the audience and judges at the Bela Bartok 27th International Choir Competition in Debrecen, Hungary, from July 7-10.

They clinched the second prize for the chamber choir category and third for the mixed choir category. Their conductor, Ivan Yohan, received the Special Prize for Excellent Conducting.

Closer to home, the Medan Community Male Choir (MCMC) was awarded the Gold Diploma Grade III in the Ensemble Category and Gold Diploma Grade II in the Equal Voices Category at the Orientale Concentus IX Choral Festival in Singapore, held from July 1-4.

Not bad at all for this very young choir founded in April 2015 by their conductor Ken Steven, who himself received the Outstanding Young Conductor Award.

The Resonanz Children’s Choir (TRCC) was awarded first prize in the Children’s and Youth Choir category and a Gold Diploma Level II at the Claudio Monteverdi Choral Competition 2016 in Venice, Italy. But that’s not all. They also achieved the highest score (94.5) of all participants, earning them the Grand Prix.

Most members of the TRCC, founded in 2007, are students of the Resonanz Music Studio directed by Avip
Priatna. Its patron and advisor is Giok Hartono, the wife of Budi Hartono, the owner of tobacco firm Djarum.

The choir’s strongest performance was Papuan folk song “Yamko Rambe Yamko”, arranged by Agustinus Bambang Jusana, which the singers presented in costumes based on traditional Acehnese attire.

Bambang used the tifa (a traditional percussion instrument from Papua & Maluku) prominently in his arrangement, which made it attractively rhythmic and colorful.

In moments like this, the role of the arranger is crucial. Arrangers differ from composers, but their task is not necessarily easier: while composers write original music, arrangers work with existing materials, working on it without losing the original character of the (folk) song.

Bambang has led many Indonesian choirs over the years, such as the university choirs of Maranatha (Bandung), Perbanas (Jakarta), Lampung University and many more — helping them achieve many awards at international competitions in Greece, Germany, Spain, Italy and Austria.

The Resonanz Choir

He himself was named Best Conductor at an international choir competition in Riva, Italy, in 2009.

Behind a successful choir, there is always a hardworking, persistent conductor who needs to be skilled in kind but firm leadership.

Devi Francisca is at the moment studying child and youth choir conducting in Hannover. It was at the
International Youth Choir Competition in Hong Kong that she was named Best Conductor, and she has led the TRCC to other award-winning performances, such as in The Golden Gate Choral Festival (San Francisco) and the 10th Cantemus Choral Festival (Hungary).

Bambang also led the Borneo Cantata from Samarinda, which deserves special mention for their first attempt to compete internationally at the Internationaler Chorwettbewerb in Spittal (Austria).

Although they have yet to grab a top award, they did well in the two categories they competed in, scoring 81 points in Volkslieder (folk songs) and 80 in Kunstlieder (art songs).

They struggled with fundraising issues even just days before they left for Europe, as many Indonesian choirs lack financial backing from institutions or sponsors.

In fact, choirs are the best public relations material for universities or institutions, offering a great way to present performing arts and entertainment to (potential) clients.

They are also a suitable instrument to discover and preserve numerous folk songs, many of them at risk of being forgotten.

As Franz Liszt did with his highly virtuosic Hungarian Rhapsodies or my own “Rapsodia Nusantara” for piano, choirs have the advantage of
presenting the lyrics of a folk song, therefore preserving the original language, dialect — and costumes too.

And as the recent awards indicate, those folksongs provide excellent material to be arranged into stunningly virtuosic showpieces. They generate royalties, too, since even though folk music and its lyrics are public property, 100 percent of the arrangement belongs to the arrangers.

Imagine how much an abundance of folk music that we have would contribute to the economy once the performing rights problems are solved in our country.

— The writer is a composer and pianist