Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta's Swara Wadhana Student Choir won the Grand Prix Winner in the 13th International Choral Festival Orientale Concentus competition. This international choral competition occurred in Singapore from July 1 to 3, 2023.
Orientale Concentus 2023 was attended by dozens of choirs from various countries. Four renowned judges assessed the appearance of the competition participants, namely Dr. Pearl Shangkuan (Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities, Calvin University), Ambrož Čopi (Artistic Director of International Youth Choirs Choral Festival Koper), Avip Priatna (Music Director & Conductor of the Jakarta Concert Orchestra), and Maestro Stojan Kuret (Conductor, Choirmaster, and Professor).
According to Swara Wadhana team coach Lukas Gunawan Arga Rakasiwi, UNY participated in two categories: mixed choir and musica sacra. In the mixed choir category, Swara Wadhana Choir performed three repertoires, namely Exultate Deo (Giovanni P. Palestrina), Atsalums (Jekab Jancevskis), and Hentakan Jiwa (Ken Steven). In the musica sacra category, Swara Wadhana Choir also performed three pieces, namely Ehre Sei Gott in der Höhe (Felix Mendelssohn), Stabat Mater (Vyautas Barkaukas Jr.), and O Sapientia (Tajeda Vulc). "We tried our best in performing them," said Arga on Monday (3/7).
Besides the Grand Prix Winner, Swara Wadhana Choir also won the Winner of Mixed Voices Category and Winner of Sacred Choir Category with scores of 88.69 (Gold Medal) and 87.51 (Gold Medal), respectively. The coach of Swara Wadhana Choir UNY Driyastuti Yogyaningrum was happy with this achievement because it added to the row of the accomplishments of her students. "A good achievement in the middle of this year, and hopefully, it will increase in the future," said the Faculty of Language Arts and Culture lecturer.
