March 5, 2022 at 7:30 pm
Gamelan Tunas Mekar presents Mountain Offerings, an evening performance of new and traditional music and dance that provides a glimpse into a Balinese temple ceremony. Uniting Colorado and Bali through their mountainous landscapes, Tunas Mekar offers a cross-cultural experience of the dynamic relationship of spirituality in the expressive arts. Through this performance we highlight ceremonies in Bali which seek to offer people moments of peace in times of cacophonous social interactions.
This performance features three Balinese orchestras, including Gamelan Semara Dana and Gamelan Angklung, with the ensemble performing traditional works and premiering new compositions by I Putu Tangkas Adi Hiranmayena, I Made Tangkas Ade Wijaya, and a collective work for Gamelan Baleganjur composed by Gamelan Tunas Mekar. Collectively these pieces embody cosmological relationships to place through traditional practices of Balinese artistic expression. Separately these pieces represent: processional music for life-cycle ceremonies; sitting music for temple preparations; music depicting the nature of a living tradition, rooted in the earth and history; a traditional welcome dance; a dance depicting the bird of paradise from Irian Jaya; a benevolent protector of community; and a dance requiring great versatility as the performer dances, sings and plays fluidly amid the ensemble.
Based in Denver, Colorado, Gamelan Tunas Mekar is a community ensemble under the direction of Balinese composer, and Artist-in-Residence I Made Lasmawan and family. The group presents traditional and new music for Balinese gamelan at music festivals, schools, private events, local venues, specially produced concerts, and by special invitation both internationally and nationally. Modeled after typical village groups found throughout Bali, and learning by traditional methods, this community ensemble provides American audiences the rare opportunity to experience one of the world’s most fascinating cultures. Gamelan Tunas Mekar is sponsored in part by the University of Denver Lamont School of Music.
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