Gamelan Sari Pandhawa in Performance

From the soft, sultry sound of bamboo flutes, xylophones, and fiddles to the bright, flashy music of bronze keyboard instruments and gongs, Javanese gamelan music conjures an intimately exotic atmosphere for art galleries, restaurants, and small performance venues. It also provides a thrilling world music concert experience. One of the world's most ancient and sophisticated musical traditions, gamelan creates a multi-layered tapestry of beautifully interlocking melodies and rhythms.

Gamelan Sari Pandhawa is a not-for-profit 501(c)3 organization dedicated to providing an educational and entertaining multi-cultural experience for the Eugene community, enriching lives through expanding cultural awareness. Since 1996, the ensemble has performed in concert and taught classes throughout the area, and seeks to increase our community's understanding of traditional Javanese cultural arts, music and puppetry.

The group has studied extensively with two renowned Javanese musician/teachers: Widiyanto (who taught at Lewis & Clark College for ten years) and Joko Purwanto, a Fulbright scholar in residence at the University of Oregon School of Music for the 2002-3 academic year, who has taught at the Indonesian University of the Arts in Surakarta since 1983 and has taught Javanese music at Oxford, Cambridge, York, and Durham Universities in England, as well as at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Performances

Please consider booking Eugene's Gamelan Sari Pandhawa for your performance venue, exhibition opening, festival, or any other event that can be enhanced by this spellbinding music. GSP has performed throughout Oregon, including the Eugene Celebration, Oregon Coast Music Festival, Asian Celebration, Salem World Beat Festival, Willamette Valley Folk Festival, University of Oregon's Beall Hall and Erb Memorial Union, and more, both in concert and accompanying dance and shadow puppet theater. The ensemble has also performed at schools, art galleries, and cultural events.

Our repertoire includes traditional and contemporary music in a variety of styles, ranging from poetic songs to ceremonial court repertoire, from quiet, meditative pieces to stirring battle music. The ensemble has recently began performing wayang kulit, the fabled Javanese shadow puppet theater, accompanied by gamelan music. The group performs in either of two configurations: a large ensemble suitable for stage and outdoor events; and a smaller group which emphasizes the softer, subtler instruments, appropriate for intimate settings. Musicians observe traditional playing style: seated on the floor, wearing colorful Indonesian batik costumes. The beauty of the teak and bronze instruments, hand-crafted in Java, complements their ravishing sound. Recordings of our performances are available.

Performance Rates

Full Ensemble:

Gadhon (small ensemble):

Full ensemble consists of 6-10 musicians playing a mixture of louder, more vigorous music appropriate for concerts or festivals, or the wayang kulit (shadow puppet play), as well as the more stately, serene compositions. Gadhon ensemble consists of 4-6 musicians playing quieter, meditative chamber music. This music features the more intricate elaboration and more complex compositions.

For performance bookings, Qehn qehn@efn.org, or call (541) 683-9257

To see pictures of us in action, click HERE