Gamelan Week

ATHENS GAMELAN WEEK 2019 : April 8-11, 2019

Gamelan Chandra Natha (literally, “magical power of the moon”) is the new Balinese gamelan ensemble at the University of Georgia’s Hugh Hodgson School of Music. The ensemble is comprised of UGA Students and members of the broader Athens community, and is currently under the artistic direction of UGA Visiting Assistant Professor Dr. Dustin Wiebe. Together these musicians perform traditional Balinese gamelan music on a unique collection of bronze gongs and metalaphones, drums, and flutes, which comprise this particular assemblage of instruments, known as gong kebyar. Join the members of Gamelan Chandra Natha and our guests scholars and artists as we officially welcome gamelan to Athens!

 

Featured Guests:

Dr. Michael Bakan: Professor of Ethnomusicology and Director of Sekaa Gong Hanuman Agung Balinese gamelanat Florida State University

I Gusti Komin Darta: Musical Director of Bucknell University Gamelan (Lewisburg, PA) and Gamelan Dharma Swara (New York, NY)

I Putu Tangkas Adi Hiranmayena: PhD candidate, ethnomusicology (U Illinois Urbana-Champaign) and former Artistic Director of San Diego University Gamelan

 

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:

 

TUESDAY, APRIL 2

A Prelude to Gamelan Week

·      7:00-7:30pm, Athens Institute for Contemporary Art (675 Pulaski Street, Suite 1200)

·       A short concert featuring UGA’s Gamelan Chandra Nathan. This is a collaborative event done in conjunction with Balinese artist I Made Bayak during his one-month residency at ATHICA.

 

MONDAY, APRIL 8

Gamelan in the Quad

·      12:00-1:00pm Arts Quad, Outside the 3rd Floor of HHSOM

·       Guest artist I Gusti Komin Darta and Visiting Assistant Professor of Music Dustin Wiebe perform traditional Balinese gender wayangrepertoire.

 

TUESDAY, APRIL 9

Music and Autism in Re-presentational Perspective

• 12:30-1:45pm, HHSOM, rm308 (open to music therapy students only)
  • In this presentation drawing from his new book Speaking for Ourselves: Conversations on Life, Music, and Autism (Oxford 2018), ethnomusicologist Michael Bakan reveals deep insights into the relationship of music, autism, and life in general, through the re-presented words and ideas of ten fascinating autistic musicians.

 

From Cymbals to Symbols: Gamelan Music as Cosmology and the Embodiment of Social Values

·      5:00pm HHSOM, rm 412

·       In this engaging and accessible presentation, renowned ethnomusicologist and gamelan specialist Michael Bakan offers a primer on how Balinese gamelan music works, what it means in traditional cultural contexts, and how it has grown in prominence on the contemporary, global musicultural landscape.

 

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 10

Kecak:Decoding the Balinese “Monkey Chant”

·      9:05-10:55am – PAC, PAC Rm 140 (Orchestra Room)

·       Come learn about kecak, a unique form of Balinese vocal music. This interactive class features Gamelan Week guest artists Dr. Michael Bakan, Gusti Komin, and Putu Tangkas.

 

Gamelan Gong Kebyar: Form and Principles (preconcert talk)

·      1:25-2:15pm, Hodgson Hall

·       Join Dr. Dustin Wiebe (Visiting Assistant Professor of Music) in this preconcert talk as he outlines the inner workings of instrumental and dance repertoire featured in the upcoming evening      concert.  

 

Gamelan Chandra Natha: From Bali to UGA

·      7:30-9:00pm, Hodgson Hall

·       The premiere concert of UGA’s brand new Balinese gamelan ensemble, featuring UGA students, community members, and very special guest artists Dr. Michael Bakan, I Gusti Komin Darta,       and I Putu Tangkas Adi Hiranmeyana. Program includes both instrumental and dance repertoire.

 

THURSDAY, APRIL 11

Open Rehearsal

·      8:00am Performing Arts Center, rm 140

·       Gamelan Chandra Natha invites members of the UGA and Athens communities to attend this open rehearsal. Attendees with have the opportunity to ask questions, play music, and try Balinese dance!

 

ADMISSION: All of these events are open to the public and presented admission-free thanks to the generous support given university-wide partners including Director Dale Monson of the Hugh Hodgson School of Music, the Music Therapy area, the Musicology/Ethnomusicology area and Students Association, the Office of the President, Office of Research, the Willson Center for Humanities and Arts, Franklin College and Dean Alan Dorsey, the Office of Diversity and Inclusion and Strategic University Initiatives, the Theater and Drama Department, the Center for Teaching and Learning, and the students and community members from the gamelan course.