Sari Simorangkir

Sari Simorangkir
Birth name Basari Frida Mardani Simorangkir
Born March 31, 1975
Semarang, Indonesia
Genres Contemporary Christian, contemporary worship
Occupation(s) Singer-songwriter
Instruments Vocals, Lead Vocal
Years active 1990–present
Associated acts True Worshippers, Voice of Generation, JPCC
Website sarisimorangkir.com

Basari Frida Mardani Simorangkir (born March 31, 1975) is an Indonesian contemporary Christian music singer and songwriter. She is used to be called as "Sari". Sari is best known as one of the True Worshippers vocalists. Gifted with enormous singing talent, Sari had released many solo albums and many other records with various different artists. She’s been a blessing to many lives. Her music, her songs have become anthem of worship in churches nationwide.

Sari was greatly influenced by Michael W. Smith, Crystal Lewis, Yolanda Adams, and also secular singers such as Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Lydia Imaniar, and Sting. Even though she adores R&B, soul, and blues, Sari realizes that pop suits her best.[1]

Biography

Early life

Sari Simorangkir was born in Semarang from Bataknese parents D.N. Simorangkir and Tiur Ida Simanjuntak. As her dad worked at Pertamina, Sari was raised in five different cities in Indonesia, those of which are Semarang, Makassar, and the last one was Jakarta, where she finished her high school.[2] She has two siblings Fredrick and Sammy.[3] She began to sing in 1990 when she was in Senior High School grade. She was enrolled by her parents to take apart in singing contest such as Cipta Pesona Bintang and Asia Bagus.Though not winning at all, she became very motivated to sing.

Voice of Generation

About two years later Sari and her colleagues created a music band named Ezra. But, in 1992 the name was changed to VOG (Voice of Galilea) before changed again to Voice of Generation when they made their second album (Tutur kata). She was one of the band's vocalist along with Viona Paays, Franky Sihombing (who also played bass guitar) and later with Sydney Mohede when he joined in the second album.

In the late 1980s, when the world Christian spiritual music had not evolved as it is today, VOG comes with a desire to give a more contemporary alternative music for the younger generation of Christians. By taking the theme song that contained positive messages and was universal, their works were liked by all circles. Two phenomenal albums they produced were: 'Kusadari' (first album) and the second album: 'Tutur Kata'. Their songs had time to stay on "The Song Chart" of the radio stations in Jakarta that time.[4]

The VOG formation of the first album Kusadari is :

The VOG formation of the second album Tutur Kata is :

Unfortunatelly, their second album was the last album before they disbanded. Later, in October 2009, they have made an reunion concert of VOG.

True Worshippers

In her community named JPCC (Jakarta Praise Community Church) (kind of God's servant community), Sari met acquaintances who later be the part of True Worshippers such as Sydney Mohede, Ucok Radjaguguk, Daniel Sigarlaki etc. She learned many things about singing and song writing from this community. In 1996, they officially established True Worshippers with Sydney Mohede (who was her partner in VOG) as the founder. Sari had major contribution as lead vocal along with Ruth Sahanaya and Sidney Mohede to this group. She have blessed many people with her amazing voice.[5]

Solo projects

Besides her business in True Worshippers, Sari has her own solo projects. The first and the second album wasn't so successful due to its music genre R&B. Churches considered that R&B music was not fit or suitable enough to be used as a worship anthem in Indonesia. So, on the third album, she decided to rearrange and make it little bit more pop. It worked. The third and fourth albums successfully sold about 30.000 copies. Sari later knew that pop songs is the easiest song to be sung by churches in Indonesia. She also knew that lyric that talks about horizontal relationship (human relationship) is not considered as an anthem of worship in churches. Later, she tended to make songs that talk about the relationship of God and people as His servants.

As of 2013, she has produced 12 albums. The title of her fifth album "31:31" was inspired by her birthday (31 March), her age when she completed this album, and the completion date of this album production (31 March). Her eighth album (Sari 8) was named in accordance with the order number of the album.

Albums

Notable songs: "Kaulah Segalanya", "Bagi Tuhan Tak Ada Yang Mustahil", "Karya Terbesar", "Dengan SayapMu", "Hati Hamba", "Hanya Kau Tuhan", "Aku Percaya", "Tidak Dengan Tangan Hampa" (medley Persembahanku), "Yesusku Dahsyat", and "Dengan Sayap-Mu".

Awards and nominations

In 2005, Sari had received 3 awards from Indonesian Gospel Music Award of Excellence 2005 for her works.

Point of view, vision and mission

On worship, Sari really thinks that it is a lifestyle. It is our relationship with God. Not just the outside, it is the matter of the inside too. “It sounds cliché, but it is true. Worship is not just about the singing. It is our everyday life that glorifies God”. Whereas, gospel to her is something that could bring changes to people’s life. It is an answer to our need. It is a good news that everyone needs to know.[6]

Her vision and mission is to touch as many lives as possible through both her music and her life. That is why she takes singing seriously. It is not just a career, it is a way to her expressing herself and bless people as well. According to Sari, her biggest challenge is how to make a pop Christian music does not sound ‘cheap’. Since she is getting older, she also has to maintain her voice and her physical fitness. All of the hectic schedule and the time that she has to spend to do it all are very tiring. But, she knows that she has to be excellent in what she does. And she does! And any positive feedbacks are received as she goes touring all over the country.[7]

Personal life

In 1997, Sari and Handy Iskandar (her boyfriend) was married. They were blessed by two children named Sandy and Sharon.[8] Right now, Sari is busy with her ministry and taking care of her family. She looks forward to release more albums with her own style of music, bringing more flavors to Indonesian Christian music. Last but not least, she really hopes that she could have her solo concert anytime soon. “I hope to see myself in the next five years as a more mature and stronger person, continuing what I’ve been doing to bless people”, she said.[9]

References

  1. ↑ "Sari Simorangkir".
  2. ↑ "Sari Simorangkir".
  3. ↑ "Biografi singkat Sammy Simorangkir".
  4. ↑ "Voice of Generation fanspage".
  5. ↑ "Bakal Merana Bila Tak Nyanyi Lagu Rohani".
  6. ↑ "Sari Simorangkir".
  7. ↑ "Sari Simorangkir".
  8. ↑ "Bakal Merana Bila Tak Nyanyi Lagu Rohani".
  9. ↑ "Sari Simorangkir".

External links