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With an air of timelessness, Gamelan Pacifica has done an unparalleled job of taking gamelan music to new heights, while remaining respectful to the roots and cultural significance of its instruments.
SOMA Magazine
Gamelan Pacifica with A.L. Suwardi
Saturday, November 17, 2012 at 8:00 pm
PONCHO Hall, 710 East Roy Street, Seattle, WA
Aloysius L. Suwardi (b. 1951, in Sukoharjo, Central Java) is presently a Senior Lecturer at the Institut Seni Indonesia (ISI), the Indonesian National Institute of the Arts, in Surakarta, Java. He studied gamelan music at the high school conservatory for the arts (Kokar), then at Akademi Seni Karawitan Indonesia or ASKI (now ISI), in Surakarta. Suwardi completed his M.A. in ethnomusicology at Wesleyan University in 1997, sponsored by the Ford Foundation and the Asian Cultural Council. From 1985 to 1987 he was a Fulbright visiting scholar to the USA, teaching at Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio; Michigan University, Ann Arbor, Michigan; and Wisconsin University, Madison, Wisconsin. While in the US, he frequently travelled to Canada to teach gamelan at Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, BC. In 1999 and 2001 he taught gamelan at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia and was one of the Monash Silver Jubilee recipients. Suwardi has developed a fine reputation as a composer, gamelan teacher, gamelan player (both traditional and contemporary), gamelan tuner and restorer, and experimental instrument maker. It is not surprising that he is often referred to as “a man of many talents.” As a composer, Suwardi is best known for his works that make use of his own experimental instruments. His compositions have been performed in many different cities in the world, participating in new music festivals such as: the Indonesian-American Cultural Exhibition in the U.S. and Canada; the First International Music Festival in Samarqand, Uzbekistan; the Asian-Composers League in Bangkok, Thailand; the Island to Island Festival in London, U.K; the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown, South Africa; the International Gamelan Festival in Amsterdam, Holland; Art Summit Indonesia III, and many others. He has also presented papers at a number of conferences.
Founded in 1980, Gamelan Pacifica is among the finest ensembles in the United States devoted to the performance of gamelan music. It is an active and adventurous ensemble, with a reputation for creating diverse productions merging traditional and contemporary musical forms with dance, theater, puppetry, and visual media. The ensemble has performed at the Smithsonian Institute’s Festival of Indonesia, New Music Across America Festival, Vancouver New Music Society, On the Boards, Walker Art Center, Performing Arts Chicago, and elsewhere. Visiting artists who have worked with Gamelan Pacifica include some of the most notable artists of Indonesia including Sutrisno Hartana, Wayan Sinti, Didik Nini Thowok, Sri Djoko Rahardja, I Made Sidia, Endo Suanda, Dedek Wahyudi, Goenawan Mohamad, and Tony Prabowo. Gamelan Pacifica’s CD, Trance Gong (O.O. Discs) has received international acclaim.
Gamelan Pacifica Artist Director Jarrad Powell’s compositions have been performed and broadcast internationally and include pieces for voice, gamelan, various western and non–western instruments, electro–acoustic music, music for theater, dance and experimental film. His work also includes numerous cross-cultural collaborations, particularly with Indonesian artists, including the innovative music–theater pieces Visible Religion and Kali. He is also Music Director and composer for Scott/Powell Performance, a contemporary dance company formed in 1994 with noted choreographer Mary Sheldon Scott. Their most recent piece, Geography, was a National Performance Network Creation Fund Project, co–commissioned by the Myrna Loy Center/Helena Presents in partnership with On the Boards and the National Performance Network. Recent projects also include music for three short films by artist Robert Campbell: Tilt, Eidolon, and Delta of C16H22O4. Powell’s work has been commissioned by the Walker Arts Center, Performing Arts Chicago, On the Boards, Music in Motion, Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, Myrna Loy Center/Helena Presents, the National Performance Network and many individual performers. He has received numerous awards, including grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, Arts International, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Paul Allen Family Foundation, 4Culture/King County, The Mayor’s Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs/Seattle, Artist Trust Foundation and the Creative Capital Foundation. Powell holds a B.A. in English and Religious Studies from Rocky Mountain College, a B.F.A. in Music from Cornish College of the Arts, and an M.A. in Music Composition from Mills College, where he received the Paul M. Henry award for excellence in music composition. His most recent recordings, Natural Selection and Stonehouse Songs are available from Present Sounds Recordings.
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Ticket prices for this event were $20 general, $15 seniors, $10 students and alumni (with ID) , $10 Cornish community (w/ID)
This event took take place
Saturday, November 17, 2012 at 8:00 pm
PONCHO Hall, 710 East Roy Street, Seattle, WA
Tickets are also available by phone at Brown Paper Tickets, 1.800.838.3006
