Javanese Gamelan and Dance

Saturday, November 23, 2024 at 8:00pm
World Music Hall

Free and open to the public

Wesleyan students, faculty, and staff can RSVP on WesNest, but reservations are not required.

Wesleyan’s Javanese Gamelan Ensemble, under the direction of Winslow-Kaplan Professor of Music Sumarsam MA ’76 and University Professor of Music I.M. Harjito, present music and dance of central Java, featuring Visiting Assistant Professor of Dance Dewati Rahmayani from the royal court of Yogyakarta.

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.