Guest Lecture Series

Famed puppet master and UC Berkeley Professor Midiyanto gives a lecture on the topics of “Rasa” one of the beautiful esoteric concepts of Javanese Gamelan.

Rarely attempted in American gamelan performances, Phil will discuss this exciting and beautiful form that is a regular part of Solonese klenengan.

Peter is a Fellow at Yale’s Tropic Resource Institute and speaks on his Thesis: Technology and Tradition in Java: Natural Resource Access and Innovation in the Gamelan Instrument Industry

Film director Matt Dunning give a discussion on his sensory ethnographic gamelan film “The Stirring of a Thousand Bells” Released by Sublime Frequencies (SF094), featuring a very rare type of gamelan, and a beautiful dance from the Mangkunegaran Palace.

Professor Sumarsam from Wesleyan University discusses previous lectures and gives us the history and context of gamelan throughout the ages leading to a video about one of gamelans unique artforms called “Gift of the Wali: The Gamelan Sekaten in Central Java”followed by a discussion.

Alex from Friends of the Gamelan in Chicago discusses the various theories and possibilities when constructing gamelan suites out of multiple compositions

Darsono Hadiraharjo, a Visiting Critic with Cornell’s Southeast Asia Program, discusses the music and career paths of his parents, Bapak Saguh Hadi Raharjo and Ibu Panut, in conversation with Cornell Senior Lecturer Christopher J. Miller. Darono’s parent’s were members of some of the most famous and influential gamelan groups from the 60’s to 2000’s like Condhong Raos and, Ngripto Raras. Lecture complete with musical examples and personal stories.

As an experienced cross-cultural gamelan player, composer, teacher, and collaborator in this field, I have noted that creativity is needed in the gamelan practices. It is a unique musical capability that strongly help “my” (and perhaps also “your”) musical journeys…so lets share in this class then.

Senior Lecturer at Cornell, Chris Miller gives a thoughtful presentation on some of the building blocks of gamelan music

An overview of this lively East Javanese form of wayang kulit, in which traditional systems of apprenticeship and collective local sponsorship continue to strongly influence performance practices.

The rich vocal-music tradition within Javanese karawitan is often a mystery to beginners. Some of this mystery can be unlocked by understanding the category of sung poetry known as macapat, and how macapat are used every day in the performance tradition. Kitsie Emerson, who has lived in Java for almost 30 years studying karawitan and wayang kulit gives an introduction to macapat, using live examples from her and Pak Wakidi’s arts center in Solo.

The first in a series of instrument specific Gamelan Masters Lectures talking about the basics of music theory and practice of various gamelan instruments. We start with one of the most important instruments int he group, the “Gender” with Midiyanto,

SUmarsam reflects on his experiences learning the gender: “How did I learn gendèr? How did my teachers use cèngkok (gendèr melodic patterns) to teach? What is the genesis of the names of cèngkok? How can a student become a good gendèr player?” These are among the questions Sumarsam had in mind when writing the manuscript. He is happy to share this “work-in-progress” with us.

Richard North (who has been studying, teaching and performing Cirebon gamelan music since 1976) and his wife Felicia Danon North (a talented Cirebon Topeng (mask) dancer who has been playing Cirebon gamelan since 1998) will give a lively and informal introduction to five genres of gamelan music from the ancient north coast Javanese kingdom of Cirebon. Richard currently directs the University of California Santa Barbara Gamelan Ensemble, as well as the community group Gamelan Sinar Surya.

The Karaton Surakarta has had to make hard choices between maintaining its buildings or its rituals. Under Pakubuwana XII (reigned 1942-2005) the consistent policy was to give priority to the demanding cycles of ritual renewal while buildings were left to fall into disrepair. When in 1992 three princesses declared a hunger strike, it called attention to a dramatic mismatch between conventional practices of historic preservation and the living culture of the Karaton.

Based on Joko Sutrisno’s experience teaching gamelan for many years in Minneapolis, he has devised 6 steps to learn and make gamelan music. These Steps however can be applied to other areas in life to make your dreams come true in other areas such as finance, health, and relationships. Joko will talk about this concept and practical philosophy that is his guide to success.