Evento

Gamelan Gita Asmara - Gong Festival

From the culturally rich island of Bali in Indonesia, comes a tradition of beautifully intricate music and evocative dance that has been attracting international attention for over a century. Gamelan Gita Asmara (translated as "Gamelan of the Song of Love") is a Vancouver-based ensemble of 25 musicians and 5 dancers that perform traditional and contemporary Balinese music on a spectacular and authentic gamelan made up of bronze gongs, metallophones and drums. The group was founded by ethnomusicologist and composer Michael Tenzer, and is host to Balinese guests I Wayan Sudirana (musical director) and Ni Putu Widiantini (dance director). Based at U.B.C., the group prepares the complex music in the traditional manner of memorization and intensive rehearsal over many months.

Gamelan Gita Asmara's 2012 concert features an ambitious mix of classical, modern, rockin', and sweet music, highlighting the growing virtuosity of ensemble. This year, as they begin to ramp up for a 2013 tour to Bali -- their first -- they have notched up the intensity of the show even higher than in the past, and completely tuned and renovated the gamelan instruments, doubling the power and vibrancy of the sound.

The combined effect of the music, dance, instruments and costumes is dazzling, making this concert appealing to people of all ages and a great event for families.

Audience members are invited to show up early to take advantage of delicious Indonesian cuisine being offered by Sweet Chili restaurant atarting at 6:30pm, and to attend a pre-show Talk starting at 7:15pm each night.

For those who want to try out some Balinese dance or music, workshops are offered on Saturday and Sunday at 4:30pm-6pm.

for more on Gita Asmara, visit www.gitaasmara.ca
Info: www.caravanbc.ca