Javanese Gamelan in the World: A Concert of Traditional and Hybrid Compositions of I.M. Harjito
Friday, October 4, 2024 at 8:00pm
Crowell Concert Hall
Free
Wesleyan students, faculty, and staff can RSVP on WesNest.
The Wesleyan Javanese Gamelan Ensemble and guest artists will perform a retrospective of compositions by I.M. Harjito, University Professor of Music, under the direction of the composer and Sumarsam MA ’76, Winslow-Kaplan Professor of Music. Harjito is regarded as one of the finest Javanese musicians of his generation, with an approach to composing that moves between classical Javanese style and contemporary idioms, at times including instruments such as bagpipes and erhu (two-stringed bowed musical instrument) that place the gamelan in dialogue with other musical traditions. For this concert, the Gamelan Ensemble will be joined by Javanese musicians teaching at United States universities, including internationally-renowned Indonesian vocalist Peni Candra Rini.
I.M. Harjito has made immense contributions to the cultural interactions between the United States and Indonesia, teaching multiple generations of students at Wesleyan University, the University of California, Brown University, Smith College, and the University of Massachusetts, as well as at the Consulate General of Indonesia in New York. As a guest artist, he has performed throughout the United States and abroad, and has appeared on numerous recordings of jazz and world music.
Peni Candra Rini is a composer and professor of music at Indonesia’s national Institute of the Arts. Candra Rini was commissioned by the Kronos Quartet for their "50 for the Future" project, creating the work "Maduswara" in 2020. She was also a 2023 Fulbright Visiting Artist Scholar at the University of Richmond and Virginia Commonwealth University.
Students in the Javanese Gamelan Ensemble focus on the direct, hands-on experience of performing Central Javanese gamelan music, augmented by occasional discussions and the showing of documentary films. Since 1983, Wesleyan has owned one of the finest gamelan instruments in the world, a set from Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The instrument itself dates back to the 12th century, when the magnificent orchestra of colorful bronze gongs and metallophones, wooden xylophones, drums, bowed- and plucked-string instruments, flute, and voices first began to accompany feasts, ceremonies, and dances.
This concert was organized by Wayne Forrest ‘74, MA ’77 and is sponsored by the American Indonesian Cultural and Educational Foundation in collaboration with the Asia Society and Wesleyan University, marking the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the United States and Indonesia.
A performance of the same program will be presented on Saturday, October 5, 2024 at the Asia Society in New York.