with guest director Darsono, celebrated Indonesian musician
FARMINGTON, ME (February 27, 2018) — The University of Maine at Farmington is excited to host a performance by the Bates Gamelan Mawar Mekar (“Blossom of Inspiration”) at 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, March 7, 2018, in UMF’s Emery Community Arts Center. The concert is free and open to the public.
Bates Gamelan Mawar Mekar (“Blossom of Inspiration”) presents traditional music of Central Java.The Bates Gamelan Mawar Mekar, directed by Professor Gina Fatone, serves as an Indonesian music study group and performance ensemble, and provides ceremonial music for college events. A gamelan is a traditional Indonesian musical ensemble of Java and Bali composed of tuned gongs of various types and metal-keyed instruments. The ensemble is conducted by a drummer, and often includes voice, bamboo flute, xylophone and stringed instruments.
The UMF performance will be directed by celebrated Indonesian musician Darsono, Artist-n-Residence 2017-2018 in the Bates Music Department. Darsono comes from a prominent family of music and theatre traditions in Central Java, Indonesia.
Gamelan Mawar Mekar (“Blossom of Inspiration”) with guest director Darsono, celebrated Indonesian musician Darsono studied “karawitan,” a genre of music played with a gamelan from Central Java. He also learned the revered art of shadow puppetry, primarily from his father and other relatives. He continued his study of Indonesian performing arts at Institute Seni Indonesia, a national conservatory of the arts in Indonesia.
Today, Darsono is one of the most prominent musicians inside and outside of the city of Surakarta. At the royal court of Mangkunegaran, Surakarta, he serves as the main drummer for dances performed at the court. In the surrounding villages, he is regularly featured as an accompanying musician at shadow puppet theatre performances (wayang kulit). Darsono has been appointed as an artist-in-residence at several institutions, including Wesleyan University, Smith College, and Tufts University and Bates College.
Included in the UMF concert will be three selections of traditional Central Javanese court music, ja Javanese shadow-puppet demonstration by Darsono, and a performance of UMF Professor Emeritus Philip Carlsen’s “Snowleaf” (2005), composed for the Bates Gamelan. Carlsen will be performing with the orchestra on the slenthem, a type of metallophone (metal keyed instrument.)
This event is sponsored by the UMF Emery Community Arts Center.
More on the UMF Emery Community Arts Center
The Emery Community Arts Center is an innovative, experimental venue for the arts in Western Maine. It features an exciting 2,500-square-foot, 109-seat multipurpose performance space with dynamic vertical foldaway doors that open onto an outdoor performance area and a 1,600-square-foot Flex-Space gallery for traditional exhibits, new media and performance art. A dramatic interior corridor offers additional exhibition space and connects the center with the UMF Alumni Theater. Designed by designLAB architects of Boston to complement the historic performance venues of Nordica Auditorium and Alumni Theater, the 15,000-square-foot center is the keystone for the arts complex on the UMF campus.
Media Contact
Ann Bartges, director of UMF Emery Community Arts Center, at ann.bartges@maine.edu.
Editor’s Note
Image can be found at:
https://www.umf.maine.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/1/2018/02/RP178-042A.jpg
Photo Credit: Submitted photo
Photo Caption: Bates Gamelan Mawar Mekar (“Blossom of Inspiration”) with guest director Darsono, celebrated Indonesian musician
https://www.umf.maine.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/1/2018/04/RP178-042B.jpg
Photo Credit: Submitted photo
Photo Caption: Bates Gamelan Mawar Mekar (“Blossom of Inspiration”) presents traditional music of Central Java.