Gamelan Sekar Jaya
Gamelan Sekar Jaya is a Balinese gamelan ensemble located in the San Francisco Bay Area. It has been called "the finest Balinese gamelan ensemble outside of Indonesia" by Indonesia’s Tempo Magazine.[1] It performs the music and dance of Bali in many different genres of Balinese gamelan, mainly gamelan gong kebyar, gamelan angklung, gender wayang, and gamelan jegog. Past performances have also featured ensembles playing in other styles as well, including gamelan joged bumbung, kecak, gender batel, gamelan gambuh, genggong, and beleganjur. GSJ has also performed contemporary pieces featuring instruments from the Western tradition.[2]
History
Founded in 1979 by I Wayan Suweca, Rachel Cooper and Michael Tenzer, Gamelan Sekar Jaya (GSJ) was the first community-based Balinese gamelan in the United States. Most of its performers are American volunteers, taught and led in performance by visiting Balinese master artists.[3]
Popular both in the States and abroad, the group has performed all over North America and has toured Bali six times (1985, 1992, 1995, 2000, 2003, and 2010).[4] In 2000, Gamelan Sekar Jaya was awarded the Dharma Kusuma Award for Cultural Service by the Balinese government, the highest such honor given.[5]
Gamelan is the Indonesian term for orchestra, and the name "Sekar Jaya" translates roughly to "Victorious Flower."[6]
Collaborations
Along with performing Balinese music and dance, the group has produced a number of cross-cultural collaborations. For example, GSJ commissioned the creation of a new score to the 1935 silent film, Legong: Dance of the Virgins, performing with the Club Foot Orchestra. A DVD of the film with this new score was released in 2004.[7] Major GSJ collaborations include projects with Abhinaya, Crosspulse, Shadowlight, Destiny Arts,Chitresh Das. Since 1994, Sekar Jaya and some of its members have been collaborating with the artist and musician collective The Residents on many of their live shows and albums such as "Wormwood", "Animal Lover" and "Bridegroom of Blood - Gamelan collection." In 2011, GSJ and I Made Moja collaborated on a multimedia performance piece that that fused music, dance, and other traditional art-forms of Bali, notably wayang kulit, Balinese shadow-puppetry.[8]
Notes
- ↑ "Press for Gamelan Sekar Jaya". Hear It Local SF. Retrieved 2011-04-03.
- ↑ "Marc Perlman". New World Records. Retrieved 2011-04-03.
- ↑ "Gamelan Sekar Jaya's website". GSJ. Retrieved 2011-04-03.
- ↑ "Gamelan Sekar Jaya's website". GSJ. Retrieved 2011-04-03.
- ↑ "Gamelan Sekar Jaya's website". GSJ. Retrieved 2011-04-03.
- ↑ Curiel, Jonathan (1999-09-22). "Bang a Gong—Gamelan Turns 20". The San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 1999-09-22.
- ↑ Kehr, Dave (2004-11-30). "Balinese Dancers, Orson Welles and the Return of Spider-Man". New York Times online. Retrieved 2011-04-03.
- ↑ "Asian Art Museum: Bali". San Francisco Asian Art Museum. Retrieved 2011-04-03.
External links
- Balinese Dance Drama a Sensuous ‘Dream’, San Francisco Chronicle, 2/19/2001
- Bang a Gong--Gamelan Turns 20, San Francisco Chronicle, 9/22/1999
- ‘Virgins’ From Bali A Beautiful, Rare Treat, San Francisco Chronicle, 5/7/1999
- Ravishing ‘Ramayana’ Fuses Cultures, San Francisco Chronicle, 4/21/1997
- California Symphony Rings With Gamelan, San Francisco Chronicle, 3/7/1996
- Gamelan Sekar Jaya in Bali, Bali Arts and Culture News, Fall 1995.
- Sekar Jaya: Balinese Music in America, Rhythm Music Magazine, April/May 1994
- California, Bali, music and dance meet at MIT, The Boston Globe, 4/20/1994
- Classical Music in Review, New York Times, 4/19/1994
- Gamelan Sekar Jaya: A Culturally Rich Mix from Bali, San Francisco Chronicle, 5/24/1992
- Gamelan Troupe has SRO Date, San Francisco Chronicle, 2/28/1990
- Koskoff, Ellen (2005). Music Cultures in the United States. New York: Routledge. p. 124. ISBN 0-415-96588-8.
- Gamelan Sekar Jaya's web site