Gamaband secured first place at the 2023 Kharisma Brawijaya Music Festival, a national-level band competition organized by the Brawijaya University Band Unit on Saturday (October 28).
This national inter-university band competition was joined by nine representative band groups from Andalas University, Padjajaran University, UPN Veteran Jakarta, Semarang State University, Brawijaya University, PSDKU State Polytechnic of Malang, BINUS Malang, Ciputra University Surabaya, Hang Tuah University Surabaya, and Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology.
Zaidan Naufal Grajanara, a member of Gamaband, expressed joy and pride over the achievement, which has brought honor to the university. The competition among university bands resumed after the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I am thrilled and grateful because, after a long time, Gamaband has finally competed again and emerged as the national champion. We are proud to represent UGM in the national music field,” said Zidan Grajanara on Tuesday (October 31).
Grajanara said they prepared for the music band competition for about two weeks. Despite each member’s academic commitments, they coordinated their practice schedules.
“Adapting to the busy schedules of each member made it difficult for us to practice regularly, but thanks to our efforts and intentions, we became champions. We didn’t expect it,” he said.
Conducting joint rehearsals was challenging for Grajanara and his friends, as the headquarters of Gamaband was under renovation. As a result, they rented a studio outside the campus for their rehearsals.
“Due to limited space and facilities, we were required to practice in various places simultaneously. This served as our motivation because one of the unit’s functions is to improve soft and hard skills, enhancing the value not only for Gamaband but also as individuals,” he explained.
During their performance, Grajanara mentioned that Gamaband performed two songs: Walang Kekek, the compulsory piece, and Bahagia, a popular song by GAC.
The judging criteria, according to him, were based on arrangement, stage act, song difficulty level, costumes, creativity, song dynamics, and harmony.
“Creativity was our main challenge from every aspect, starting from arrangement, costumes, stage act, dynamics, and harmony as a band,” he added.
Aside from clinching the top spot in the band contest, Gamaband also received four additional awards: the Golden Receiver of Costume and the Golden Receiver of Vocal, earned by Cindy Leivana Lourent Bakara; the Golden Receiver of Guitar, received by Dimas Satya Grimaldhani; and the Golden Receiver of Bass, secured by Zaidan Naufal Grajanara.
Author: Gusti Grehenson