Choir recovers lost national treasures

M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Sanur, Bali

Although the Parahiyangan Catholic University (Unpar) Choir staged their performance to entertain delegates from over 40 countries who convened for the 60th congress of Jeunesse Musicales International (JMI), it unwittingly served another purpose: celebrating the country's plurality.

And staged on the eve of National Day, the timing could not be more perfect as the concert was indeed a tribute to a nation that celebrated 60 years of independence the following day.

For more than an hour, the choir embarked on a journey to recover the country's long-lost treasures and innocence hidden in the scores of traditional songs performed such as Soleram from Riau province, O Inani Keke from Minahasa and Saman from Nangroe Aceh Darussalam.

Living up to its reputation as a world-class act, the group, which consists of active Unpar students, pulled off an impressive show that blended consummate vocal works, impeccable theatrics and effective stage management.

Without abandoning the traditional songs' original characters, the student choir under the guidance of conductor Avip Priatna, performed a modern a cappella arrangement that was intended to showcase both the skill of individual members and the choir as a sum of parts.

The first sign of the good things that would come transpired in the opener Sik Sik Sibatuman, a traditional song used by people of Tapanuli in North Sumatra to welcome their respected guests.

Staying true to the song's jubilant mood, members of the choral group divided themselves into two camps that shared a division of labor of calling and responding, a method that was once again revisited in the second song Gai Bintang, a traditional folk tune from Banyuwangi region in East Java.

In Cingcangkeling, a Sundanese folk song, the interplay of the vocals of the female and male camps left the audience smiling and giggling.

Anyone who attended the concert secretly thinking of other places they would rather be, might have been converted into a lover of choirs by the show's end.

The show reached its pinnacle when the choir performed two songs -- and two traditional dances -- the Balinese Kecak and Saman.

The two songs usually accompany the traditional dances of the same names.

In Saman and Kecak, the audience was presented with a lengthy composition in which the vocals breathtakingly matched the succession of energetic dance moves. Even without the vocals, the choreography would have impressed the audience.

It took hours of daily practice to arrive at that level, and yet the choir is made up of students who still need to attend classes.

The two compositions also delivered a heartening message about the country's plurality, whether it be religion or traditional culture.

In Saman, the group's leader, a student of a Catholic university and a Chinese-Indonesian who must be Catholic himself, belted out a tune culled from the Muslim call to prayer (adzan) quite religiously, in which he said loudly that Prophet Muhammad is God's messenger.

Another heartening feature of the performance was the choir's ability to sing traditional folk songs in their original dialects as they were sung by local peoples.

Members of the group -- who are mostly in their late teens and speak modern Bahasa Indonesia peppered with Jakartan slang -- demonstrated their mastery of the Javanese, Acehnese and Balinese accents.

All these impressive traits confirmed the outfit's status as a highly respected choir that has represented Indonesia internationally.

Founded in 1962 to perform solely at university functions, the Unpar choir won first prize in the category of mixed large choir at the Netherlands International Choir Festival in 1995 and the first prize in the folk songs category at the Concorso Polifonico Internationale "Guido d'Arezzo in 1997.