Spring Festival of World Music 2022
The Music of Bali Ensemble and The Music of Thailand Ensemble with a special guest showcase traditional music from these regions on the same stage.
The Music of Bali Ensemble, directed by I Nyoman Wenten, features gamelan music (the generic Indonesian word for orchestra) and dance. The Balinese gamelan gong kebyar is famous for its fast tempos, abrupt changes of texture, and brilliantly costumed dancers who act out stories from the Hindu Ramayana.
Students of master Javanese musician Pak Djoko Walujo will perform Central Javanese gamelan, a percussion-dominated musical ensemble featuring tuned bronze gongs, bronze metallophones, and drums, along with flutes, zither, vocals, and spike fiddle.
The Music of Thailand Ensemble is led by Supeena Insee Adler, and a special guest from Thailand will perform alongside the ensemble. The performance will feature dance and singing accompanied by instruments including gong circles, xylophones, flute and stringed instruments, such as three-stringed zither, two-stringed fiddle and three-stringed spike fiddle. The Music of Thailand Ensemble was founded by David Morton, who was a student of Mantle Hood while he was at UCLA.
About the Spring Festival of World Music 2022:
Continuing a tradition begun in 1960, the Department of Ethnomusicology draws on its incredible collection of world musical instruments to present its annual Spring Festival of World Music. It's an opportunity for student ensembles to perform and share traditional musics from around the world - including Mexico, India and West Africa - as they master their instruments. We invite you to journey with us–and experience live–the sound of Venerable Dark Cloud, our Javanese gamelan, as well as the erhu, sitar, tabla, guitarrón, vihuela, 'ud, banjo, concertina, autoharp, atumpan drums, and more! Admission is free. All concerts are at 7 p.m. in Schoenberg Hall. A complete list of performances is here: https://uclamusic.info/WorldMusicFest2022