For Immediate Release
Contact: Denise Nelson, Office of Public Affairs
661-253-7826

Gamelan Burat Wangi at REDCAT

April 29, 8:30 p.m.

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Los Angeles, April 15 - Gamelan Burat Wangi will appear at REDCAT on Thursday, April 29, 8:30 p.m., as part of the CalArts School of Music's Musical Explorations Series. This music and dance concert, a fusion between new composition and ancient gamelan traditions emphasizing formal elegance and melodic beauty, features three Balinese guest artists: I Nyoman Cerita (choreographer and composer), I Dewa Putu Berata (musician and composer) and I Nyoman Winda (musician and composer). They have collaborated with CalArts faculty members I Nyoman Wenten (Artistic Director of Gamelan Burat Wangi) and Nanik Wenten (Dance Director of Gamelan Burat Wangi) to produce a dance drama, Sutasoma, based on a manuscript written by the great Javanese poet Empu Tantular in the 13th century. A contemporary gamelan piece by Michael Tenzer, Talakalam (1999) will also be performed. This new work, another fusion of two cultural traditions, is for a tabla (Indian drum) soloist and Balinese Gamelan Gong Kebyar.

The Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater (REDCAT) is located in the Walt Disney Concert Hall complex, 631 W. Second Street in Los Angeles. Performances begin at 8:30 p.m. Tickets (general $24; students $12) can be purchased by calling 213-237-2800 or by clicking here. Special discounts for CalArts alumni and students are available.

Gamelan Burat Wangi (fragrance offering), a Balinese music and dance group, was founded in 1972 by I Nyoman Wenten, Nanik Wenten, and K.P.H. Notoprojo, the most prominent Javanese musician and composer in the 20th century. The group currently has 30 musicians and dancers. Their repertoire includes the newest style gamelan orchestra Gong Kebyar, (modern Balinese orchestra), Semar Pegulingan (the Balinese courtly gamelan orchestra), traditional and new dance choreography, and the Balinese monkey chant (kecak, a dance drama accompanied by several dozen chanters depicting an episode of the Ramayana epic). Gamelan Burat Wangi is known throughout California for its well-trained musicians and dancers who have performed in venues such as the Herbst Theater, San Francisco; International Festivals of Masks; UCLA Spring Music and Dance Festival; Lotus Dance Festival; Microfest; World Drum Festival; and the Festival of Sacred Music; as well as numerous workshops in high schools and colleges. With Rhapsody in Taps, a Los Angeles-based touring dance company, the gamelan spent three weeks in Bali touring and rehearsing a concert-length collaborative work, Nusantara (Bridge between islands), which has been performed at the Japan-America Theater in Los Angeles; Orange Coast College in La Mesa; Sanderson Centre for the Performing Arts, Brantford, Canada; and Wells College, New York.

In spite of the fact that Bali is an extremely ancient civilization stemming from the Hindu-Javanese dynasties where history fades into mythology, life in Bali is fresh and new every day. Life on the island is truly communal. Together, the people cultivate the rice fields, maintain the roads and irrigation, repair the temples, play in the gamelan orchestra, and dance. As many as 25 to 30 different types and sizes of gamelan have been developed in Bali. Their size varies from the gender wayang quartet, (the ensemble used to accompany the Balinese shadow puppet play) to 45 musicians in the Gong Gede, a grand Balinese gamelan orchestra.

CalArts, the first U.S. educational institution to integrate the visual and performing arts under one roof, is recognized as the nation's leading laboratory for the arts. Housing six schools-Art, Critical Studies, Dance, Film/Video, Music and Theater-CalArts embraces creative cross-pollination among diverse art forms and traditions, and strongly encourages each artist to pursue his or her vision within a broad context of social and cultural understanding. For information about CalArts, visit www.muse.calarts.edu.

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