the Audible Think Improvised Music Series will not hold a performance on the first Wednesday of May----
we encourage you to attend this SPECIAL EVENT:
JAVANESE GAMELAN MUSIC FEATURED AT UMASS DARTMOUTH
A concert of Indonesian music directed by world renowned composer I. M. Harjito will take place at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Wednesday, May 7, 2008 at 7 pm. Guest artists will include vocalist Srihadeni Harjito and dancer Triwik Harjito. The event, which is sponsored by the UMass Dartmouth Music Department and College of Visual and Performing Arts, will be held in room 104 in the College of Visual and Performing Arts building Group VI, on the main campus in North Dartmouth.
The event is free and open to the public. Parking is available in lots 8 and 9. Anyone interested in additional information about this special concert event can contact professor royal hartigan by telephone at (508) 999-8572.
About the Artists
Professor I. M. Harjito of Wesleyan University in Connecticut is acknowledged as one of the foremost musicians and composers of gamelan music in the world today. In addition to teaching at Wesleyan University, he is also a visiting professor of music at Brown University, the University of Chicago, the New York City Gamelan, as well as UMASS Dartmouth. He is also a regular guest artist at concerts of gamelan music throughout the United States and the world. He has composed many traditional and contemporary pieces for gamelan, including collaborations with tap dance, symphony and chamber orchestra, bagpipes, and jazz.
Srihadeni Harjito is a master dancer who also is a reknown vocalist in the Javanese tradition. She has taught at Wesleyan University and performed throughout the world.
Triwik Harjito has performed Indonesian dance and traditional music with many master artists in the United States and Indonesia.
About Javanese gamelan
The Gamelan is an ancient orchestra from Indonesia dating back many centuries. It includes tuned gongs, metallophones, a wooden marimba, 2-string violin, bamboo flute, zither, and male and female singing. The instruments are played in a modal polyphony - many layers of sound - that function to outline structure, to control time and rhythm, and to state a basic melody known as the balungan (‘skeleton’). The melody is then enhanced by recreating it in complex patterns of improvisation. It was traditionally played in villages and in the royal courts in Indonesia and is related to other gong chime ensembles of Southeast Asia, such as the Philippine kulintang. Gamelan music can accompany dance and drama – such as the wayang kulit shadow puppet theater – or be performed instrumentally, known as klenengan.
The program will include:
1. Ladrang Wilejung, sléndro pathet manyura.
2. Ladrang Naglarirasa, sléndro pathet manyura.
3. Ladrang Semburat Wangi, sléndro pathet manyura.
4. Lancaran Kotek, sléndro pathet manyura.
5. Ayakan, Srepegan, sampak, sléndro pathet manyura.
