Central Javanese Gamelan and Friends of the Gamelan

Sunday, May 1 at 6:00 pm
Hyde Park Union Church
Donations requested: $15 / $5 Students
Joko Sutrisno, Guest Artistic Director

Gamelan refers not only to a type of orchestra in which a number of the instruments are played with hammers but also to a form of court music common to many parts of Southeast Asia. Each gamelan orchestra has its own unique tuning, and in general, instruments are not interchangeable from one set to another. The bronze gamelan used in the evening concert was purchased by Friends of the Gamelan, Inc. (FROG) in 2000. Midiyanto, the famous shadow puppeteer (dhalang) and gamelan musician who resides in Berkeley, California, assisted FROG in commissioning it from a gamelan maker in Java. FROG’s bronze gamelan is named Sri Sedana after the rice goddess. Gamelan Sri Sedana consists of over 50 instruments in two tuning systems (laras): the seven-tone pelog and the five-tone slendro. FROG also owns an iron gamelan set, Gamelan Nyai Panjang Sari, in the two tuning systems.