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Central Javanese Gamelan

by admin-oasis — last modified 2009-09-03 11:32


This ensemble of instruments, purchased from Wonogiri, Central Java, is the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill's first Indonesian ensemble. Funded by a generous donation from David and Becky Pardue, with considerable support from the College of Arts and Science and the University Center for International Studies, the instruments arrived in December of 2000. By February 2001, after polishing all the instruments (necessary as the sea air wrecked havoc on them in transit), restringing the various string instruments, and tuning the drums, the three tons of metal made its way, with considerable physical effort, to its first home, the Chapel Hill Museum (at Franklin and Boundary Streets).  The gamelan currently resides in Hill Hall on the UNC campus.

The instruments are beautiful to see and even more delightful to hear. They are already 20 years old and have had an active performance life in Central Java with the renowned shadow puppeteer, Midiyanto S. Putra of Wonogiri, Central Java and the University of California at Berkeley.  The instruments have already been broken-in and the sound of the instruments has mellowed while the tuning has matured. A Central Javanese gamelan consists primarily of bronze instruments - horizontal and vertical gongs ranging from 6 inches to 4 feet in diameter and metallophones with from five to fourteen keys -- but also includes several stringed instruments, flutes, drums, and male and female voices in pefrformance.

The ensemble performs regularly scheduled concerts at UNC during the school year and has been invited several times to perform throughout the Triangle and North Carolina.  The members of the ensemble (several of whom had no previous musical experience before joining) include students and faculty from UNC and other universities in the Triangle, and townspeople from surrounding communities.

For more information, please visit our website or contact:

Ensemble director:
Marzanna Poplawska

Previous directors:
Ethan Lechner (2004-2007)
Sarah Weiss (2001-2004)
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