Tickets $15 Advance / $20 at the Door. $30 Family pack

Tix Available ONLINE (click here) or in person at Highlife, and Banyen Books.

Dance and Music Workshops Saturday and Sunday 4:30-6pm (Cost By Donation)

INFO: 778-886-8908, Caravan

This concert is a co-presentation between Caravan World Rhythms and SFU Woodward's, and is part of the 2nd Annual GONG! The Gamelan Festival, generously supported by the Consulate General of Indonesia in Vancouver.

From the culturally rich island of Bali in Indonesia, comes a tradition of beautifully intricate music and evocative dance that has been attracting international attention for over a century. Gamelan Gita Asmara (translated as “Gamelan of the Song of Love”) is a Vancouver-based ensemble of 25 musicians and 5 dancers that perform traditional and contemporary Balinese music on a spectacular and authentic gamelan made up of bronze gongs, metallophones and drums. The group was founded by ethnomusicologist and composer Michael Tenzer, and is host to Balinese guests I Wayan Sudirana (musical director) and Ni Putu Widiantini (dance director). Based at U.B.C., the group prepares the complex music in the traditional manner of memorization and intensive rehearsal over many months.

Gamelan Gita Asmara’s 2012 concert features an ambitious mix of classical, modern, rockin', and sweet music, highlighting the growing virtuosity of ensemble. This year, as they begin to ramp up for a 2013 tour to Bali—their first—they have notched up the intensity of the show even higher than in the past, and completely tuned and renovated the gamelan instruments, doubling the power and vibrancy of the sound.

This year’s programme includes: Sekar Gendot, which showcases the stop-and-start, signature super-fast interlocking melodies of modern Balinese music, and pairs this with the symphonic Tabuh Pisan Bhaskara composed this year by music director I Wayan Sudirana. Based on an ancient sacred melody used in temple rituals, this explosive new piece builds up a huge range of moods, from serene to ferocious. For this piece guest musician I Dewa Made Supartha plays the trompong (gong-row) like a concerto soloist.

As for dance, the classical suite Legong Kuntul, for a quartet of dancers depicting graceful herons in the ricefields, features guest dancers Keiko Ninomiya, and, direct from Bali for the first time, 14-year old Ni Putu Suci Pramesti. Also presented is the modern powerhouse Wiran Jaya (Victorious Hero) a torpedo of crashing gongs and intense movement danced as a solo by dance director Ni Putu Widiantini with Gamelan accompaniment. The combined effect of the music, dance, instruments and costumes is dazzling, making this concert appealing to people of all ages and a great event for families.

PRE-SHOW TALK AND FOOD: Audience members are invited to show up early to take advantage of delicious Indonesian cuisine being offered by Sweet Chili restaurant, and attend a pre-show Talk starting at 7:15pm each night.

SCHEDULE:
Friday May 18th
7:15-7:45 Pre-concert Talk on Balinese Music
8:00 Concert

Saturday May 19th

4:30-6:00 Public Gamelan workshop
7:15-7:45 Pre-concert Talk on Balinese Dance
8:00 Concert

Sunday May 20th
4:30-6 dance workshop open to public
Gamelan Gita Asmara enjoyed an exciting 2011 concert season performing at Brockton Point in Stanley Park for the Vancouver Summer Live 125 Celebration. <br/><br/> We also performed in Squamish, Salt Spring Island, Victoria and downtown Vancouver at the SFU Woodward Campus. <br/> <br/> We are always looking for new places to showcase the energetic and dazzling Balinese music and dance taught to us by our wonderful resident artists I Wayan Sudirana and Ni Putu Widiantini. <br/><br/> Please <a title="Michael's Email" href="mailto:">contact us</a> for information about bookings, and check back for information about upcoming shows! <br/>