Saturday, March 7
5pm
Stansbury Hall
Lawrence University
Appleton, Wisconsin
Free!
Listen to an interview with director I Dewa Ketut Alit Adnyana
and members of the community gamelan ensemble:
Soon after we moved to Appleton, I met a tall gaunt man
buying sausage at Jacob’s Market who turned out to be the dean of the
Lawrence University music conservatory.
Later, we recognized each other on the street outside Harmony Café. He advised I buy tickets for that evening’s show at the Performing Arts
Center: Kaleidoscope, a showcase of ensembles from the conservatory, playing in succession from
different parts of the theatre, with no applause until the very
end.
The grand curtain opened and there rose the most magical
sounds. From where could this ringing
music have come, the instruments red and gold, the musicians topped with
ornamental head wraps, this mesmerizing complexity of wondrous sound? I decided right then I had to find a way to join
the group.
I searched the university’s web site and was eventually put
in touch with Sonja Downing, an ethnomusicologist, married to I Dewa Ketut Alit
Adnyana, the Balinese director of the group.
She said that they were hoping to form a community gamelan ensemble and
I said put me on the list. The next
summer, my friend Jenn sent me a link to a four day world music seminar the
university was hosting and that she would watch my kids if I wanted to
go. It was so generous I couldn’t turn
her down. There I met Tad and Janet and
Barbara. We spent an afternoon learning about gamelan from Sonja and Dewa. And then we all signed up for the community ensemble.
You never know where a chance meeting might lead.
You never know where a chance meeting might lead.
 |
| Alvina, Dewa, Audrey, and Sonja at the kajar |
Nice. My mantra is say yes to the invitations the universe sends to you. Your friend Jenn was acting on behalf of the universe when she offered to take care of the kids, and you got to say yes to the whole experience because of her (and because you're not afraid to try new things) — and because of that chance meeting with the dean of the music conservatory and your initial infatuation with the music. Lots of forces at play. I love it when that happens.
ReplyDeleteOne of my fondest memories of Appleton is an afternoon concert in the Lawrence chapel introducing the new gamelan. It reminded me of my first exposure to the music in the Memorial Union concert hall in Madison decades before and to a later event at an open house here in DC at the Indonesian embassy. Thanks for a great broadcast and looking forward to more from City Park Broadcasting.
ReplyDelete