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 and open to the public.
This event will also be livestreamed on YouTube.
View the concert program here.
Wesleyan students, faculty, and staff can RSVP on WesNest, but reservations are not required.
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, including two premieres. 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.
Read Javanese Gamelan Ensemble to premiere works by I.M. Harjito in The Wesleyan Connection.
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.
Ensemble musicians will include Phil Acimovic, Kelly Boyle MA ’01, Wes Brown ’74, graduate music student Marie Carroll, Wayne Forrest ’74, MA ’77, Stuart Frankel, Joseph Getter MA ’99, Darsono Hadiraharjo, Library Assistant for Wesleyan’s World Music Archives and Music Library Jennifer Thom Hadley ’84, MA ’86, Aji Harjito, Denni Harjito, Maho Ishiguro MA ’12, PhD ’18, Chia-Yu Joy Lu PhD ’21, Retired Dance Artist in Residence Urip Sri Maeny, Andy McGraw PhD ’05, Alec McLane, Chris Miller MA ’02, PhD ’15, Marc Perlman MA ’78, PhD ’94, Director of Private Music Lessons and Adjunct Associate Professor of Music and of Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies Nadya Potemkina, Jon Rea, Leslie Rudden ’77, Heni Savitri, Carla Scheele ’78, Ethan Schwartz MA ’22, graduate music student Anya Shatilova, Jesse Snyder ’92, Anne Stebinger, Joko Sutrisno, Marianne Vogel, Sarah Washburn, Matthew Welch MA ’01, graduate music student Eva (Yi) Yang, and Alex Yoffe.
Marc Perlman MA ’78, PhD ’94, Associate Professor of Music at Brown University, will present a Wesleyan Music Department colloquium, “Bridging Two Worlds,” about Harjito’s gamelan compositions on Thursday, October 3, 2024 at 4:30pm in the Frank Center for Public Affairs, located at 238 Church Street in Middletown, Connecticut.
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 a set of gamelan instruments from Yogyakarta, Indonesia, a donation to the University from Louise Ansberry. The use of some of the instruments in the gamelan date back to the 12th century. Today, the magnificent orchestra includes colorful bronze gongs and metallophones, wooden xylophones, drums, bowed- and plucked-string instruments, flute, and voices. The gamelan accompanies 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.