Five students from the 2022 intake from the Physics Study Program, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Indonesia (FMIPA UI), who are members of the Mars Space Music Group, have won a band competition held by UI to celebrate its 74th anniversary.
Mars Space, led by Marsulinta Adiguna and its members, namely Abraham Nathan Sunanta (keyboard), Muhammad Ruzbi Anvari (guitar), Octarizky Ramadika Taufik (bass), and Natanael Kevin Sumbung (drums), performed the song “Terlalu Manis” by the popular Indonesian band Slank.
“Technically, this song is already very popular, and from the essence of the song, we think it is the most interesting from the list determined by the committee,” said Mars explaining the reasons for choosing the song.
The other song choices given by the jury team were Hate to Love (Naif), Jump Higher (Sheila on 7), Even Though There’s No Light (Noah), and Kangen (Dewa 19).
In accordance with the title of the song chosen, Mars and his friends said that their participation in enlivening UI’s anniversary, coupled with their victory in the band competition, were memories that were too sweet for them to remember in the future.
“Whatever the result, whether we win or lose, the moment of preparing and making the competition video is a memory that is too sweet for us to remember in the future,” said Mars.
As stipulated by the committee in this competition, Mars has uploaded audio visual material of his performance on his personal YouTube channel. The video has been watched more than 377 times so far.
The jury team consisting of Dr. Dwi Marta Nurjaya, S.T., M.T. (Director of Operations and Maintenance of UI Facilities), Prof. Dr. Anthony Sihombing, MPD., Ph.D. (Lecturer in the Architecture Study Program, FT UI), and Dr. Ngatawi Al-Zastrow, S.Ag., M.Si. (Head of Makara Art Center UI), assessed that Mars Space met the criteria for assessment aspects that include voice material; voice color/timbre, vocal technique; breathing, voice production, articulation, improvisation, pitch/intonation accuracy, expression and appreciation; delivery and soul, and appearance.
Dean of FMIPA UI Prof. Dede Djuhana, Ph.D. expressed his appreciation to Mars Space. He hopes that in the future there will be more FMIPA UI students who are motivated to develop their talents other than in academics, as additional skills as well as personality development.
“Hopefully, this Mars Space achievement will be a motivation for other students at FMIPA UI, to continue to develop their talents not only in academics, but also in non-academics. This is important to increase expertise and develop personality,” said Prof. Dede.
Mars Space received a symbolic award at the peak of UI’s 74th anniversary celebration held at Balairung, UI Campus, Depok, on Wednesday (21/2/2024) along with winners from various other competitions. In the event, UI also gave awards to Faculties, Schools, Vocational Education Programs, units within UI, to UI academics and residents who contributed to efforts to achieve the goal of Sustainable Indonesia. This is in line with the theme of UI’s 74th anniversary, namely “Continuously Building Sustainable Indonesia”.
The Dies Natalis event, which was attended by more than 1,000 people, was also made even more lively by the presence of one of the country’s biggest bands, Ada Band, as a special guest star who sang a number of their popular songs, such as “Because Women Want to Be Understood”, “The Best for You”, and “Haruskah Kumati”.
