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The word gamelan, derived from a Javanese term for striking a percussion instrument, refers collectively to a set of musical instruments and, by extension, to the people who play them. Dating back to the Southeast Asian Hindu Majapahit empire (ca. AD 800), gamelan orchestras are now found in various forms throughout the Indonesian islands of Bali, Java, and Lombok and also in nearby Cambodia, Vietnam, and the Philippines. Although there is relatively little solid evidence about the early development of the music, scholars point to possible elements of mutual influence between Indonesia and its trade partners in the first eight centuries AD. These include the exchange of ideas about music, musical instruments, and performance contexts with China, Southeast Asia, India, and Southern Africa.
A gamelan is made up largely of percussion instruments such as metallophones, gongs, and drums, but can also include flutes, string instruments, and voices. In recent decades, the gamelan music of Indonesia has developed a following around the world, influencing Western musicians from Claude Debussy and Benjamin Britten to Peter Gabriel and Mickey Hart. Currently, more than 400 gamelan ensembles exist outside of Indonesia: in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. To learn more about gamelan, please see our Links page.
About Gamelan at the Eastman School of Music
Gamelan at Eastman, as in Bali, is a communal effort. Our members include Eastman students, faculty, and staff, as well as many members of the Rochester community. Learned through the aural tradition without notation, the music requires players to work together for long periods of time to learn the music and how to play it. Each gamelan cultivates its own style and expressive nuance within the rich tradition of the music. The result is a sense of group unity and pride for the audience to hear the music and witness the collective efforts of the group.
Each year, Eastman’s gamelan ensembles perform throughout the Northeastern United States and in Canada in programs of traditional and contemporary Balinese music, interactive workshops for audiences of all ages, and in creative collaborations with Western musicians and composers. In recent years, we have collaborated with Bobby McFerrin and the Paul Winter Consort and have premiered new compositions by composers Wayne Vitale, Robert Morris, Jennifer Fontana Graham, Daniel Iannantuono, John Orfe, and Payton MacDonald. New members are welcomed into the Eastman gamelan ensembles each year, regardless of musical experience. For more information, please see the Contact Us page.
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Founded in 1993, Gamelan Lila Muni (Heavenly Sound) is a Balinese gamelan angklung orchestra. This kind of ensemble, one of more than 25 distinct types found on the island of Bali, traditionally played only for ceremonial and ritual functions. In the 20th century, newer styles of composition transferred into the gamelan angklung repertoire. This ensemble now commonly plays a large variety of music ranging from traditional, ceremonial music to modern secular dances.
Gamelan Kembang Salju (Flower in the Snow), a gamelan joged bumbung (orchestra of bamboo poles) was founded in 1996. This modern type of Balinese gamelan accompanies the famed joged dance popular with tourists and villagers alike in Bali. Instrumental duets and quartets also are commonly played by this ensemble.
The Eastman Youth Gamelan, now in its fourth year of existence, is an offering of the Eastman Community Music School. Membership is open to students ages 10-18, and their parents, who wish to explore the music of the fascinating culture of Bali.
For a list of members of the Eastman gamelan ensembles, see our Members List. For photos from recent performances, projects, and rehearsals, see our Photo Gallery.
Ellen
Koskoff is Professor of Ethnomusicology at the University
of Rochester’s Eastman
School of Music, where she teaches courses in
various world music traditions and directs the two Eastman School Balinese
gamelans. She earned her Bachelor of Music degree from the Boston University
School of Fine Arts, her Master of Arts degree from Columbia University, and
her Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh. In addition to teaching at the
Eastman School, Professor Koskoff has served in a visiting capacity on the
faculties of Syracuse University, the University of California at Los Angeles,
and New York University. She has published various articles on Jewish music,
on gender issues in music, and on music and cognition in the Journal of
the Society for Ethnomusicology, the World of Music, Selected
Reports in Ethnomusicology, and Concillium, among others. She
is the editor of Women and
Music in Cross-Cultural
Perspective (1987) and the author of Music in Lubavitcher Life (2000), winner
of the 2002 ASCAP Deems-Taylor award. She is a contributor to the New Grove
Dictionary of Music and Musicians,
and is the general editor of Volume 3 of the Garland Encyclopedia of World
Music. She is currently the President of
the Society for Ethnomusicology, a member of the Board of Trustees of the American
Folklife Center, and is a weekly commentator on WXXI-FM, Rochester’s
NPR affiliate, with her spot, What in the World is Music?
Master musician I Nyoman Suadin began studying Balinese dance
and music at the age of seven and received formal training at KOKAR, the Conservatory
for the Performing Arts in Denpasar, Bali. He has traveled and performed
throughout the United States since 1988. Pak Suadin is the Founder and Artistic
Director of Gamelan Mitra
Kusuma in Washington,
DC. He also teaches at the Eastman School of Music and
at Bard College.
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Gamelan Lila Muni is housed at the Eastman School of Music, 26 Gibbs Street, Rochester, NY 14604
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