Emory Gamelan Ensemble performs 'Spring Blossoms: An Evening of Classical Javanese Music'
Music director Neil Fried leads the Emory Gamelan Ensemble through an evening of classical Javanese Gamelan music at the Emory University Performing Arts Studio.
Emory University troupe performs Javanese gamelan music and explores its influence on Western classical composers, such as Debussy.
Photo credit: Photo by Marymay Impastato
Photo credit: Photo by Marymay Impastato
The shimmering harmonics and deeply meditative rhythms of an ancient Indonesian art form are the subject of “Spring Blossoms: An Evening of Classical Javanese Music” on the Emory University campus. Emory Gamelan Ensemble's Artistic director Claire-Marie Hefner and musical director Neil Fried have created a show that Fried calls “a fun, often haunting, fairly diverse, and well-rounded taste of Central Javanese gamelan.”
While previous Emory Gamelan concerts have presented music arranged for puppetry and dance, Friday's setlist explores the realm of karawitan, which is intended to be heard on its own, not as accompaniment to other performance types. “We will also briefly explore the influence of gamelan on Western music,” Hefner says. “The show opens with Debussy's 'Pagodes,' which was inspired by Javanese gamelan.”