ITS Student Voice Guide Team (PSM) in a live recording session at the 2021 Finnish Jean Sibelius Festival Choral Competition (JSFCC)

Kampus ITS, ITS News – The pandemic did not dampen the enthusiasm of the Institut Teknologi Sepuluh November (ITS) Student Choir (PSM) team to re-carve their achievements at the international level. This time, ITS PSM won second place in the Mix Youth Choir category at the 2021 Jean Sibelius Festival Choral Competition (JSFCC), which was held in Finland, last Wednesday (17/11).

JSFCC is the first online choir competition that ITS PSM has participated in. According to Rossa Valentine, Head of ITS PSM, ITS PSM initially did not participate in online contests. This is because the competition in the live recording is quite risky in its preparation. “Usually, we only participate in activities in the form of virtual concerts during the pandemic,” explained Rossa.

The ITS PSM team sang the song Birds of Paradise with its choreography at the 2021 Finnish Jean Sibelius Festival Choral Competition (JSFCC)

ITS PSM consisting of 35 people, participated in the Mix Youth Choir category for ages 16-25 years. In that category, they sang four songs, namely Ungewitter with composer Robert Schumann, Io Piango with composer Morten Lauridsen, Birds of Paradise with composer Amilio Fahlevi and Budi Susanto Yohanes, and Pesona Alamku with composer Gabriel Denis Devian.

The ITS PSM team sings the song Birds of Paradise with its choreography at the 2021 Jean Sibelius Festival Choral Competition (JSFCC)

The choreography displayed in the song Birds of Paradise is unique for ITS PSM. In addition, there are also exciting things from the song Pesona Alamku which is shown. The reason is, the music is the work of ITS PSM alumni. “This is an extraordinary thing for us to bring because it is our original work,” said the ITS Informatics Engineering Department student.

Although this is the first online competition to participate in, PMS ITS has been preparing for it three months before the implementation. Preparation starts from determining the song program to be performed, the participant audition process, to collaborative practice two weeks before the competition. “It takes approximately three months of preparation for this JSFCC,” explained Rossa.

The Student Voice Guidance Team (PSM) of the Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology (ITS) in the live recording session of the Jean Sibelius Festival Choral Competition (JSFCC) 2021 Finland (Photo: Bambang Soemardiono)

In the lecture schedule, which is still undergoing this hybrid system, the ITS PSM did not escape from the obstacles in the preparation process. The ITS PSM team carried out an exercise using masks for the first time. In addition, at the beginning of the training process, the participants were divided into online and in-person training venues. The synchronization process of training was also a challenge in itself.

But despite various obstacles, Rossa representing the ITS PSM team, is very grateful to be able to bring the championship title. He hopes that there will be more proud ITS PSM innovations in the future. He also thanked the ITS Directorate of Student Affairs (Ditmawa), ITS PSM supervisor Dr. Ing Ir Bambang Soemardiono, and ITS PSM conductor Wasis Setiawan and Dewi Maya Fitriana. “Because of their support, we were able to give our best in yesterday’s competition,” he concluded. (ITS Public Relation)

Reporter: Fathia Rahmanisa19