Bali comes to Wellington

With the arrival of a set of Balinese Gong Kebyar instruments in 2003 (purchased by the Wellington composer Gareth Farr) and the return to Wellington of the celebrated Balinese composer I Wayan Gde Yudane, the sounds of Bali can now be heard and studied in Wellington. We launched the ensemble, Gamelan Taniwha Jaya, in August 2003 with a brief composition ('Ombak Ing Segera') by Yudane to open a piano recital by Indonesian pianist Ananda Sukarlan of works especially written for him in commemoration of the Bali terrorist attack.

The ensemble is now based at the Massey University campus in Wellington and Yudane is teaching a year-long course in gong kebyar performance as well as teaching a small community group. This extends the reach of gamelan music to another university campus, since our Javanese gamelan (Gamelan Padhang Moncar) is based at Victoria University of Wellingon.

Members of the performing group are: Megan Collins, Gareth Farr, Sion Guy, Jane Hebberd, Jo Hilder, Mike Jones, Greg Street, Sue Street, Robyn Wellwood and I Wayan Gde Yudane.