2008 Gamelan Extravaganza - Apr 6 - 2pm

Presented by Consulate General of Indonesia

Where: Robson Square (800 Robson St.), lower level (theatre)
When: Sunday April 6, 2:00 to 5:00 PM
Free admission

This annual concert brings together all the gamelan groups in Vancouver – Gamelan Gita Asmara and UBC School of Music (Balinese), Gamelan Kyahi Madu Sari and SFU School for the Contemporary Arts (Javanese), and Gamelan Si Pawit/VCC School of Music (contemporary Sundanese), as well as Klenengan Nusantara, an ensemble combining instruments from different parts of Indonesia played by Indonesian students in Vancouver. This year’s program of traditional music and dance as well as new music for gamelan will provide an opportunity to experience three vibrant world music traditions that have taken root in Vancouver and engaged the talents of composers and performers here for over 20 years.

The gamelan is an orchestra consisting of gongs, chimes, cymbals, bells, and other percussion instruments made of bronze, iron, bamboo, or wood, as well as drums and flutes. In some gamelan styles, singers and a two-stringed fiddle are also prominently featured. Gamelan in some form has probably existed in Indonesia for at least a thousand years, and has been performed and enjoyed by people from all walks of life, from beggars to kings. Traditional gamelan ensembles are featured in a wide range of events: accompanying dance and puppet theatre, marking family celebrations and ceremonies such as birthdays, weddings and circumcisions, and playing an important role in temple ceremonies and other religious rituals. Concerts of gamelan music are broadcast on radio and TV, and the music is widely available on CD.

For our concert the three major traditions will be represented by the central Javanese court style, the Balinese gong kebyar, and the Sundanese (west Javanese) gamelan degung. Gamelan arts in Vancouver have long been supported by three institutions of higher learning. Javanese gamelan has been taught at SFU since 1987, and since 1995 the program has been directed by Sutrisno Hartana, who also directs the community group Gamelan Madu Sari (“Essence of Honey”). At the UBC School of Music Dr. Michael Tenzer has been teaching Balinese gamelan since 2001 and directing Gong Gita Asmara (“Song of Love”), currently with co-director Wayan Sudirana and dance director Ni Putu Widiantini. And at the VCC Department of Music Jon Siddall has been teaching contemporary composition and performance for Sundanese gamelan since 1999 on Gamelan Si Pawit (“The Beginning”). Klenengan Nusantara (“Music of all the Islands”) is a project of the Indonesian Consulate General under the direction of Sutrisno Hartana.

We especially encourage families and everyone interested in the performing arts of Asia to come to this free event.

For more information on the Extravaganza please contact the Consulate at (604) 682-8855 X250 or congen@indonesiavancouver.org.

Vancouver gamelan websites:
http://www.gitaasmara.ca/
http://www.eciad.ca/~adulic/semar/