Gamelan Gita Asmara

Old Auditorium Friday, May 11, 8:00 pm
GAMELAN GITA ASMARA
Wayan Sudirana, Music Director
Putu Widiantini, Dance Director
Michael Tenzer, General Director
Dewa Made Supartha, special guest musician
Keiko Ninomiya, special guest dancer
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PROGRAM
Sekar Gendot
This crystalline music by the renowned composer I Wayan Lotring, active in the 1920s and '30s,
was arranged from a composition used to accompany the shadow play theatre. It features quick
melodies divided among the players into interlocking parts, played in counterpoint with a slowermoving
melody in the bass.
Baris
Baris means row, rank, or file, and is a traditional dance of a warrior in preparation for battle.
The dancer cues the gamelan through a series of unpredictable accents called angsel, reflecting
his watchful state. With Kadek Hari Candana.
Tabuh Pisan Bhaskara (I Wayan Sudirana 2012)
Sudirana’s new composition tests his mettle as a Balinese master by taking on the most sacred
and prestigious genre of temple ritual music, called lelambatan. Classic lelambatan are
performed in a bare-bones style at religious rituals and meant for the Gods to hear. Sudirana
began from one such bony melody, borrowed from the repertoire of the gamelan of the imposing,
ancient mountain temple of Batur. He then stretched, layered, developed and expanded it into the
Balinese equivalent of a Brahms symphony.
The music's "family name"—the standard form it uses—is identified by the title words
Tabuh Pisan, which mean "one stroke" and refer to the sole stroke of the kempli (a small gong)
between large gong strokes in the music’s central section. Bhaskara is the "given name"; it
means glittering or bright. The composer writes:
"Composing and playing music involve life, and it revolves around you.
Search for your identity through the art of patience, and explore the
meaning of art given by your ancestors. Don't be scared to create
something new from something that was endowed to you! Keep it up,
onward and upward!"
INTERMISSION
Legong Kuntul
The Legong dance genre supposedly originated in the divine visions of a meditating prince in the
village of Ketewel, south Bali. It developed many variants and styles during the 20 th century and
became known as the island’s quintessential refined female dance style. The version we present,
Kuntul, depicts four herons in the rice fields. There is no story and most of the movements are
abstract, but in some of the later sections of the dance the birds’ graceful gestures can be
discerned. With Meris Goodman, June Lam, Keiko Ninomiya, and Ni Putu Suci Prawesti.
Wiran Jaya
Wiran Jaya was developed in the late 1930s in North Bali as part of the new and
fiery kebyar style of music and dance, which spread like wildfire all over Bali and became
famous around the world. The moods, energy and playfulness of youth are the central inspiration
for the dance, while the music reflects this with virtuosity, speed, and drive. The title means
“Victorious Hero.” With Putu Widiantini.
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PERFORMERS
GGA MUSICIANS: Jack Adams, Jonathan Adams, Rodrigo Caballero, Mathew Davidson,
Joseph Glaser, Meris Goodman, Robyn Jacob, Madé Kartawan, John Kastelic, June Lam,
Charlene Morris, Paul Patko, Emily Rogers, Innessa Roosen, Shawn Sekiya, Jordan Soet, Wayan
Sudirana, Michael Tenzer, Leslie Tilley, Kris Victory, Putu Widiantini.
GGA DANCERS: Meris Goodman, June Lam, Ni Putu Suci Prawesti, Putu Widiantini, Kadek
Hari Candana
GAMELAN GITA ASMARA was founded as a student ensemble in1996 by Michael Tenzer.
In 2005 a core group of players split from the class group, and in 2006 Gamelan Gita Asmara
became a Registered Non-Profit Society. Using a new kind of Balinese gamelan set called
Semaradhana, the group learns Balinese repertoire on an intensive practice schedule. Members
bring long-term focus and commitment to rehearsal and performance. Over the years, Gita
Asmara has commissioned several new works from its first guest artistic director Dewa Ketut
Alit (in residence 2001-04), its current director I Wayan Sudirana, and composers Colin
MacDonald and Jocelyn Morlock. Gita Asmara is a dedicated collective committed to mastering
this challenging music together, the rewards of making something of aesthetic and social value,
and the joy of sharing this with their audiences.
I Wayan Sudirana was born in Ubud, Bali in 1980. He is a graduate of the ISI Balinese Arts
Institute and a member of the Çudamani collective. He is one of Bali’s most gifted young
musicians, has composed and taught actively all over the island, and toured abroad frequently.
He has been visiting artist-in residence at UBC since 2004 and is completing a PhD in Music at
UBC.
Ni Putu Widiantini was born in Nusa Penida, Bali, and graduated from ISI Academy. She is
widely known for her dynamic portrayals of Balinese female dances.
I Dewa Madé Suparta is from a musical family in Pengosekan, Bali, and was a founding
member of the Çudamani gamelan collective with whom he toured abroad many times. He is
director of Gamelan Giri Kedaton in Montreal, and teaches gamelan at Université de Montreal.
Keiko Ninomiya is the founder of the Yuragi Dance Project and co-founder of AKA Dance,
ZUKE and Green Tea, which is a collective of Japanese contemporary dancers in Toronto. She is
currently studying and teaching traditional Balinese dance from court repertoire to contemporary
compositions.
Ni Putu Suci Pramesti (age 14) and I Kadek Hari Candana (age 10) have just come to Canada
from Bali to join their father Madé Kartawan, who is studying at UBC. They have both learned
dance since age 3, and Kadek Candana recently won the prize for best child Baris dancer in Bali.
Michael Tenzer is Professor of Music at UBC, a composer, and author of scholarship on
Balinese music and other topics.
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