BARD COLLEGE BALINESE GAMELAN CONCERT celebrating 25 years of gamelan at Bard. 4 May 2024.

** The concert video is followed by interviews with four Bard students, by Jody Diamond. **
PROGRAM
Blessing • Belaganjur • Selisir • Sekar Rare •
Sekar Jagat • Topeng Keras • Gilak • Cak
Gamelan Artistic Director: I Nyoman Suadin.
Administrative Director/Assistant Instructor: Sue Pilla
Dancers: Latifah Alsegaf, Made Yoni, Ni Ketut Yuli Kartika Inggas.
Guests from the Eastman School of Music: Evan Henry, Ken Luk, Eleanor Price
Camera operator: Judy Doyle
NOTES by Sue Pilla • Blessing.Before each performance in Bali prayers and an offering are given for a successful performance. Ensemble players, performers, and instruments are blessed. • Belaganjur. Traditional procession music featuring ceng-ceng kopyak, gongs, drums, jegogan and calung.• Selisir. Traditional music of the courts said to help lull the king to sleep during an afternoon nap. • Sekar Rare. A composition by one of our first teachers, I Ketut Gde Asnawa, written for a children’s dance in the late 1980s. It was performed many times by the original Woodstock gamelan group Giri Mekar and featured the original members’ children dancing and singing. • Sekar Jagat. Composition by I Nyoman Winda with choreography by Ni Lu Nesa Suasthi Wijaja Bandem. Sekar Jagat translates as “beautiful flowers adorn the world with color” and it is a welcome dance. Performed by Latifah Alsegaf, Made Yoni, and Ni Ketut Yuli Kartika Inggas.• Topeng Keras. Traditional masked dance denoting strength performed by I Nyoman Suadin.• Gilak. A standard form of composition with an eight-beat gong pattern. • Cak. A traditional rhythmic Balinese vocal chant.
Performers: Fiachra McAllister, Francis Brazas, Elias Bachner, Ben Calling, Hiu-Man Chan, Allison Jobin, Noah Kotzin, Cyrus Kurman-Browning, Juan Diego Mora, Samuel Max Peters. Jody Diamond, Jim Finnigan, Jennifer Hoffman, Sue Pilla.
The ensemble performs on authentic Balinese gong kebyar instruments built in the village of Blabatuh, Bali in 1978 and originally used by the Gamelan Sekar Jaya. Garry and Diane Kvistad purchased it in 1988 and established Gamelan Giri Mekar with guidance from the Consulate of the Republic of Indonesia in Washington, DC. This concert was made possible with support from the Bard College Music Program, Bard Ethnomusicology, The Kvistad Foundation, and Ulster Publishing and Hudson Valley One. To make a contribution contact Debra R. Pemstein, Vice President, Development and Alumni/ae Affairs.

[@ryanmbira3968]

Ceng ceng! Sounding great

[@MariTeabag-lf1ly]

Better without the drums. Nice all the same.