The Jakarta Youth Choir (JYC), a choir managed by the city administration’s youth and sports agency, won five awards at Chorus Inside Advent festival in Rome, Italy, according to a report by Antara.
Held from Dec. 1-3, the festival was also participated in by choir groups from Italy, France, Croatia, the United States, Romania, Ghana, Russia and Poland.
Aisyah M. Allamanda, of art and cultural relations at the Indonesian Embassy in Rome, told Antara London that judges of the festival presented five awards to JYC, namely Winner of Folklore, Winner of Sacred and Mixed categories, Golden Diploma for music and choreography categories and Special Award for best choreography and conductor. The latter refers to conductor Septo Adi Kristanto Simanjuntak.
The opening concert for the competition was held on Dec. 2 at the Pantheon, one of Rome’s historical landmarks dating back to 113 AD.
President of International Chorus Inside, Davide Recchia expressed his admiration toward the JYC, which also received Grand Prix with a perfect score of 30/30.
“For the first time, judges gave a perfect score to one of the participating groups. This is impressive,” Recchia announced.
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The JYC performed a number of Indonesian folksongs, namely “Soleram”, “Jali-Jali”, “Bungong Jeumpa” and “Yamko Rambe Yamko”, among others. Its performance was also highlighted by attractive costumes and choreography.
Furthermore, the group presented such classic numbers as “O Nata Lux”, “Cantate Domino” and “Gloria Patri”, in front of an audience at the church of Santa Maria in Portico, in the heart of Rome.
Indonesian Ambassador to Italy Esti Andayani, who attended the choir festival, expressed her appreciation toward the JYC, a choir group that was established in 2015.
“My hope is for the Jakarta Youth Choir to keep working hard and improving so as to be able to achieve more and promote peace through music,” the ambassador was quoted as saying. (mut)