Gamelan: new instrument makes Acadia debut

BY WENDY ELLIOTT

Kings County Register

A reception will take place at the Acadia Art Gallery Nov. 21 to celebrate the arrival of a beautiful new set of instruments.

The Acadia Art Gallery and the Acadia School of Music will unveil a beautifully hand-built set of Indonesian gamelans, says Ken Shorley.

These custom-built instruments were forged in the workshop of Pak Tentrem, on the island of Java, in the summer of 2008. They were shipped across the Pacific to Vancouver, before making the long trek across Canada to Wolfville.

The gamelan will be on exhibition at the gallery to Nov. 28. After this, the instruments will be in residence at the School of Music in Denton Hall.

A gamelan is a tuned percussion ensemble from Indonesia. The typical gamelan ensemble of West Java (Sunda) is comprised of hand-crafted bronze and wooden instruments: gongs, suspended vertically; gong-chimes, arranged in horizontal rows; metallophones, a bamboo flute and a small set of double-headed drums.

Written records of gamelan activity in Java, says Shorley, date back to the Hindu-Buddhist courts of the 12th Century, although it is believed to have roots in even more ancient musical traditions. Today, gamelan music continues to play an important role in the cultural life of Indonesia.

The study of gamelan music outside Indonesia has blossomed in popularity since the 1960s. In the U.K. alone, there are more than 80 sets, owned by performing groups, community groups, school boards and universities. “Closer to home, gamelan ensembles can be found at both large and small universities across the United States, as well as in central and western Canada.”

The Acadia School of Music is proud to be the first institution in Atlantic Canada to explore the educational and cultural benefits of Indonesian gamelan.

Gamelan music is learned through tactile, hands-on participation: each member in the gamelan works together, fitting small musical parts into a complete whole. “While being instantly accessible to beginners, gamelan music has many layers, which can occupy a lifetime of deep study,” Shorely says. “Since the musical roles of the different instruments in a gamelan ensemble vary in complexity, a single gamelan group can easily accommodate a wide cross-section of people and abilities.”

Shorley believes, through gamelan, students and enthusiasts of music from the West are given the unique opportunity to explore and experience a formidable global music tradition.

To learn more about these instruments and about opportunities to play them, contact Shorley at the Acadia School of Music (HDH 156 or ken.shorley@acadiau.ca).

The reception takes place at 7 p.m. at the Acadia Art Gallery. Refreshments will be served.