Thanks to the song “Sapu Tangan dari Bandung Selatan,” Celine Caroline Bagariang, a student of the Faculty of Pharmacy (FF) of Universitas Indonesia (UI), won the title of Peserta Terbaik Suara Alto pada Gita Bahana Nusantara (GBN) (Best Participant of Alto Voice at Gita Bahana Nusantara) 2024 Representative of West Java Province. The event was attended by 86 participants from 22 regencies/cities throughout West Java, with participants consisting of school and college students aged 16-23 years.
GBN is a national-level orchestral and choir performance that has been consistently organized by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology (Kemendikbudristek) through the Directorate General of Culture since 2015. This year’s West Java provincial-level GBN audition was organized by the West Java Provincial Tourism and Culture Office through the West Java Regional Technical Implementation Unit (UPTD) for Cultural Management, and took place at the Taman Budaya Indoor Theater Building, Bandung City, West Java, on July 16-17, 2024.
Celine’s victory in this audition was the result of a long struggle since 2018. “Since entering high school, I took part in the GBN audition for the first time with the hope that after graduating from high school I could enter a State University (PTN) through the achievement pathway with a GBN certificate,” said Celine. In 2019, Celine took part in the GBN audition for the second time with more thorough preparation and succeeded in winning 2nd place in the West Java Provincial Alto. However, in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic caused the GBN audition to be canceled, even so, she passed the UI entrance through the academic achievement admission pathway.
During her three years of college, Celine was active in various activities on campus, including being a member of the Unit Kegiatan Mahasiswa (UKM) (Student Activity Unit) Paragita UI Student Choir (PSM) and UI Vocal Group. “In 2024, while filling my semester break, I took an internship at the Food and Drug Supervisory Agency (BPOM) as well as the West Java Province GBN audition. Finally, the 2024 GBN audition led me to win 1st place in the National-level Alto representing West Java,” said Celine.
She added, “I am very grateful that my dream did not fade and finally came true. I believe that big dreams come with a long struggle.”
The GBN audition is held annually with the aim of forming a choir and orchestra team rooted in the cultural diversity of the Nusantara in each province in Indonesia. This team will later appear in the GBN performance at the Indonesian Independence Day Ceremony at the Jakarta Presidential Palace and the DPR/MPR-RI Building, as well as in the Independence Concert at the Kota Tua Public Space, on August 10, 2024.
Before being able to take part in the West Java Provincial level audition, each Regency/City in West Java holds a Regency/City Level Audition to select four people for each type of voice who will be sent to the provincial level through the service route. In addition to the service route, there is an independent route which is an open online selection by sending a singing video on YouTube.
Independent participants are auditioned directly by provincial-level judges. Depok City Disporyata sent four people through the service route and five people through the independent route. Celine is one of the alto-voice participants who auditioned through the independent route.
From the total participants, four winners will be selected as the best participants from each voice type, namely soprano, alto, tenor, and bass, who will represent West Java Province to take part in training camps at the national level and join the National GBN. The audition stages include selecting and singing one of the 10 songs determined by the committee, reading and singing live musical notation (prima vista), and singing ascending and descending scales to find out each voice area.
