News 2011: Javanese Gamelan Music featured at UMass Dartmouth April 27

News 2011: Javanese Gamelan Music featured at UMass Dartmouth April 27
Javanese Gamelan Music featured at UMass Dartmouth April 27

A concert of Indonesian music is at College of Visual and Performing Arts building, room 104, 285 Old Westport Road North Dartmouth on April 27 at 7:30 p.m. This event is free and open to the public.

T

he UMass Dartmouth music department of College of Visual and Performing Arts present a concert of Indonesian music directed by world renowned composer I. M. Harjito. Guest artists will include Srihadeni Harjito, Triwik Harjito, and Aji Harjito. 

The event is at College of Visual and Performing Arts building, room 104, 285 Old Westport Road North Dartmouth on April 27 at 7:30 p.m. and is free and open to the public. Parking is in lots 8 and 9. Contact professor royal hartigan at 508 999 8572 for more information. 

About the Artists 
Professor I. M. Harjito of Wesleyan University in Connecticut is acknowledged as one of the foremost musicians and composers of gamelan music in the world today. In addition to teaching at Wesleyan University, he is a faculty visiting artist at Brown University and UMass Dartmouth, and a guest artist for the Boston Village Gamelan and the New York City Gamelan. He is also a regular guest artist at concerts of gamelan music throughout the United States and the world. He has composed many traditional and contemporary pieces for gamelan, including collaborations with tap dance, symphony and chamber orchestra, the Chinese erhu violin, bagpipes, and jazz. 

Srihadeni Harjito is a master dancer who also is a renowned vocalist in the Javanese tradition. She has taught at Wesleyan University and performed throughout the world. 

Triwik Harjito is an accomplished dancer who has performed at many venues throughout the United States and Indonesia. 

About Javanese gamelan 
The Gamelan is an ancient orchestra from Indonesia dating back many centuries. It includes tuned gongs, metallophones, a wooden marimba, two-string violin, bamboo flute, zither, and male and female singing. The instruments are played in a modal polyphony creating many layers of sound that function to outline structure to control time and rhythm, and to state a basic melody known as the balungan ('skeleton'). The melody is then enhanced by recreating it in complex patterns of improvisation. It was traditionally played in villages and in the royal courts in Indonesia and is related to other gong chime ensembles of Southeast Asia, such as the Philippine kulintang. Gamelan music can accompany dance and drama such as the swaying kulit shadow puppet theater or be performed instrumentally, known as klenengan.