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RINGING OUT THE YEAR IN STYLE: A MAGICAL EVENING OF MUSIC FROM THE FAR EAST AT THE TITHE BARN On Friday 14 December, beautiful sounds from the island of Java filled the Tithe Barn and brought some exotic pre-Christmas cheer to Carlisle. Cumbria Community Gamelan and SoundWave staged the successful ‘Carlisle Christmas Chimes’ event in front of a delighted and supportive audience. Alongside the Gamelan community group, pupils from Brook Street School and participants from the Prism Arts Studio Theatre performed their own take on traditional Javanese art forms such as dance and shadow puppetry. The result was an event the like of which has not been seen before in Carlisle, though one which may become more familiar in the future. The city’s newest and most unusual music group have big plans for 2013, which include running a Beginners’ Gamelan course at Brook Street School in January. The sound of these wonderful instruments is something which the people of Carlisle can look forward to hearing plenty more of in the future. Chris Stones of SoundWave managed the performance and was delighted with the turn out; “It was great to see the people of Carlisle turn out for something out of the ordinary. For both the performers and the audience it was a chance to experience a different culture and sound from the normal Christmas performances. The children really enjoyed showing off their new found skills in music making to their parents and audience members alike. Everyone seemed to enjoy it, we got some great feedback and hope to be staging similar events in the future” Carlisle Christmas Chimes Performance
Cumbria Community Gamelan rehearsing for the Christmas Performance...
Gathering of the Gamelans - April 2012 Photos of the rehearsal and performance of Wayang Lokananta at the Gathering of the Gamelans in April. This very special performance celebrating 30 years of gamelan at York took the form of a traditional all-night shadow play, and featured our very own Dwi Gambira Sari alongside 14 other groups from around the country. Dwi Gambira Sari is very much the younger brother of York’s Sekar Petak gamelan, both sets having been created by Tentrem Sarwanto 30 years apart, and it was a real treat to see the instruments alongside each other. Even more of a treat for DGS players was playing the closing section of the play, which involved taking to the stage at 2am and finishing at 3am! A truly unforgettable night.
Gamelan Dwi Gambira Sari is an exciting new resource for schools and communities in the North of England, arriving in autumn 2010. The Gamelan North Partnership—consisting of SoundWave, the Sage Gates-head, University of Newcastle CETL, and Newcastle Music Services—have commissioned master gamelan maker Pak Tentrem to make one of the finest bronze gamelans to be seen in this country. Gamelan is a percussion orchestra from Indonesia consisting primarily of gongs and chimes. It has long been considered the model of a ‘musical community’, and has an established role in music education around the world. Playing gamelan is a truly unforgettable experience, and becomes for many a lifelong passion. Gamelan North will serve communities in Cumbria and the North East, and Dwi Gambira Sari will be available for longer-term residency projects. For more information contact Chris Stones at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or visit www.solomay2010.blogspot.com for the story of the making of the gamelan. The Gamelan North project has been supported by: The Sage Gateshead The Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, Music and Inclusivity The National Lottery Big Lottery Fund
Gamelan North partner organisations: http://www.ncl.ac.uk/sacs/music/ Other links: http://ticketing.southbankcentre.co.uk/gamelan-at-southbank-centre http://www.indonesianembassy.org.uk/ Musical Stones links: http://www.tuned-in.org.uk/musicalstones/ http://keswickmuseum.webs.com/ http://www.youtube.com/user/musicalstonestv
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