Balinese Beginner Gamelan I

Join Buffalo's new Balinese gamelan music class! 6 weeks of fun community oriented gamelan music classes! We will discuss and practice basic Balinese gamelan skills and methods in an inclusive and fun environment. Sessions are led in a Balinese community oriented style and will focus on players learning several instrument types.

Schedule:

Sundays from 1pm-2pm

First class January 14th
Last Class - February 18th

Teacher:

Tom Torrisi
Tom is a professional classical guitarist, composer, arranger, and Balinese gamelan musician from Clifton Park, NY. Active as both a soloist and chamber musician, Tom has been heard performing throughout the United States and in the UK. Tom is a passionate explorer of non-Western musical styles. This interest has led Tom to extensive involvement with Eastman School of Music’s Balinese gamelan ensembles Gamelan Sanjiwani (gong kebyar) and Gamelan Lila Muni (angklung) and was teaching assistant to gamelan teacher I Nyoman Suadin. Tom is now a core member of Nusantara Arts new Balinese Gamelan program (semar pegulingan and gender wayang styles). Tom is excited to teach his first beginner Balinese music class in Buffalo.

Location:

Nusantara Arts @ St. Johns Grace Episcopal Church
51 Colonial Circle, Buffalo, NY 14222
(Entrance is on Lafayette Ave. Easternmost side of the building next to the fence)

Additional Info: Starting in September following this Beginner Balinese Music Class will be a Beginner Balinese Music II Class for those students who want to continue to learn and get closer to joining Nusantara Arts ongoing Community gamelan group. At the end of session II there will be a recital for Beginner class participants.

7 tone “Semar Peguliangan” style gamelan from Bali are an older “traditional” gamelan ensemble style originating in the 1800’s. Unlike Central Java where many types of music are performed on one set of instruments, in Bali you have many different types of ensembles that play specific repertoires. Because our set includes a few additional instruments we can play a great variety of compositions including older Semar pegulingan court music, "pelegongan" style dance repertoire from the 1920’s, compositions by the famed composer Lotring, as well as modern experimental compositions.