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Past Performances |
In July this year, one of Melbourne's gamelan groups under the guidance of Pak Poedijono had the great honour of being invited to participate in the Yogyakarta International Gamelan Festival. Maspenggamel (Masyarakat Penggemar Gamelan Melbourne) was one of several gamelan groups invited to participate including those from other parts of Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and America who performed during the three-day festival. The majority of performers at this year's festival presented modern compositions for the gamelan ranging from new music based on traditional style from West Java, a Jakarta rock band complete with electric guitar, keyboards and drum kit, as well as several sarons which were hit with great gusto and a version of 'Hard Times' from the American Gamelan Institute. Our group was the most traditional in comparison but also included a new composition by Poedijono entitled 'Yarra', a lively piece which depicts the different moods of the Yarra River in Melbourne.
The festival was organised by Sapto Raharjo, an enthusiastic and flamboyant musician who turned up the amplifiers on the last night and lifted the audience out of their seats with a computer-aided electronic version of gamelan sounds and rock rhythms.
A number of seminars and workshops were also held over the three-day festival. It was a chance for many skilled performers, composers and theorists to get together to discuss traditional as well as modern trends in gamelan music today.
The organisers went to great lengths to ensure the promotion of performances on national television and radio and reports appeared in the papers each day. It was a great honour for us to be able to perform in the country of gamelan origin and to hear such diverse performances. We would like to thank Garuda Airlines, Ed Link, Melbourne University, the Melbourne Consulate General and the Australian Embassy Jakarta, for their assistance in making the trip possible.
The Melbourne Community Gamelan has been together for a number of years. Members range from music students, teachers of Indonesian, Indonesians, and those interested in Indonesia. One of the highlights of this year was a five-hour wayang kulit performance on the lawns of Melbourne University Law Faculty organised by the Indonesian Art Society. The evening began with a short performance by Helen Pausacker (who has been studying the art of the dhalang in Solo for many years). For the rest of the evening and into the early hours of the morning, Pak Poedijono led the audience through many scenes of adventure, battle and humour. Some of our other performances this year included Chinese New Year, Vietnamese New Year, Moomba, combined dance and gamelan performances for schools in Bendigo, a shadow puppet performance in Geelong and as part of the concert 'Old Gongs New Music' organised by visiting American composer and director of the American Gamelan Institute, Jody Diamond.
More and more Australians are taking an interest in gamelan music and from the existence of one gamelan in 1972 when Pak Poedijono was teaching at Monash University in Melbourne, there are now over 30 gamelans across Australia. Future opportunities for groups to perform in festivals such as the Yogyakarta Gamelan Festival will increase the many cultural links that are already taking place between Indonesia and Australia.
For those travelling to Indonesia during June or July, the Yogyakarta Gamelan Festival is well worth going to and occurs at the end of the month-long Yogyakarta Arts Festival. Add this to the Denpasar Arts Festival and enjoy a month of continuous musical and artistic experience.
Linda Hibbs, Pelangi, Volume 13, No1, 1997