Rochester audiences will experience a colorful program of traditional and newly composed musical works for Balinese gamelan as the Eastman School of Music’s Gamelan Lila Muni presents its annual concert.
Translated as “orchestra of heavenly sound,” Gamelan Lila Muni is a percussion ensemble of metallophones, gongs, drums, and flutes that presents music and dance from the Indonesian island of Bali. The ensemble’s performance, at 8 p.m. Monday, April 27, in Kilbourn Hall, is presented as part of the School’s World Music Series.
The program includes Selisir, a dance welcoming the gods and the audience to the concert. Gamelan Lila Muni’s dance teacher, Latifah Alsegaf, will interpret the work, which features music composed expressly for the ensemble by its artistic director I Nyoman Suadin.
The concert also features a Kecak, a dance drama with rhythmical chanting that depicts stories from the great Hindu epic poem Ramayana. Suadin will also present Topeng Tua, one of a handful of masked Balinese dances, in which he will portray an elderly advisor to the King who yearns to be young again. Suagata Mang Gala is a dance piece with spears composed last year for Gamelan Lila Muni; dancers present traditional gendered roles represented by the men’s protection of the ensemble from evil-doers and the women’s sharing of blessings.
The 50 members of the Gamelan Lila Muni ensemble include members of the Rochester community as well as students and faculty from Eastman School and the University of Rochester’s River Campus.
Tickets to the Gamelan Lila Muni concert range from $8 to $18 (discounts with UR and student ID), and are available at the Rochester Philharmonic Box Office, 108 East Ave.; by phone (585) 454-2100; or online at esm.rochester.edu/concerts .
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Calendar Listing:
Monday, April 27
8 p.m.
World Music Series: Gamelan Lila Muni, a percussion ensemble performing traditional and contemporary instrumental and dance works from the Indonesian island of Bali.
Kilbourn Hall, 26 Gibbs St.
Tickets: $8 to $18 (discounts with UR and student ID), available at the Rochester Philharmonic Box Office, 108 East Ave.; by phone (585) 454-2100; or online at esm.rochester.edu/concerts .