Indonesian Music and Dance Performance: Celebrating CC Gamelan's 30th anniversary

This year, the Colorado College Music Department celebrates 30 years since the founding of its Indonesian music program.

The college will commemorate the anniversary during the CC gamelan ensemble’s spring concert, beginning at 3 p.m. Sunday, May 21 in Packard Hall, with a reception to follow the concert. The program features Gamelan Tunjung Sari, CC Balinese dancers, and alumni and friends who have all been instrumental to the success of the ensemble since it was created in 1993 by Professor Emerita Dr. Victoria Lindsay Levine.

“For three decades the CC Gamelan program has been an integral part of our collective campus experience,” said Ryan Bañagale ’00, associate professor of music and Music Department co-chair. “A multitude of students from all areas of study have brought to life this rich musical tradition through departmental concerts and performances at all-college celebrations, such as our recent inauguration of President L. Song Richardson.”

Students who participate in the CC gamelan have the opportunity learn to play six different kinds of gamelan — Balinese gamelan angklung, gender wayang, suling gambuh, balaganjur, and joged, as well as Javanese gamelan ageng — under the instruction of acclaimed Balinese master drummer I Made Lasmawan, who has been with the program since its inception. The ensemble is active on campus, in the greater Colorado Springs area and beyond, performing often at Music at Midday in addition to its end-of-semester concerts in Packard Hall, as well as in venues throughout the Front Range region and overseas in Bali.