18 Team to Participate in Jember Open Marching Band Competition

Jember, E Java (Antara) - Eighteen teams including from Thailand, Japan and South Africa took part in the 6th Jembet Open Marching Band Competition (JOMC) opened in Jember, East Java, on Friday.

"Domestic teams participating in the competition come from various districts/cities such as Tangerang, Surabaya, Balikpapan and Banjarmasin," technical committee member Tri Baduki said.

Teams from abroad inckude Mueang Nakhonratchasima Marching Band from Thailand, Ashwin Willemse MSB Marching Band from South Africa and Vast Blaze Percussion Marching Band from Japan.

"There are several categories to be competed. They are marching show which is the main competition event, drum line battle, brass line battle, street parade and individual battle," he said.

He said JOMC is the biggest marching band championship in Asia due to support from the Indonesia Drum Band Association (PDBI), Asian Marching Band Confederation (AMBC) and Winter Guard International-USA.

"The competition involves foreign referees including Kosin Suebprasitwong from Thailand who is the chief of referees, Masahiro Iwayama from Japan, Paradox Chen from Taiwan, Tang Chia Hoe from Malaysia and Mapex Percussion from the US," he said.

Basuki said the championship is held every year and Jember district administration plans to out it into an annual agenda.

Jember district head Faida said at the opening ceremony he hoped the event would be a model for other regions in the country.

The competition will run until Sunday (Oct 29).(*)