Evan Ziporyn

Members of Gamelan Galak Tika performing "Tire Fire" at the Bali International Arts Festival in Denpasar, July 2005.

For the last 25 years, composer Evan Ziporyn’s work has been largely informed by gamelan; a term that refers to the large percussion orchestras of Bali and Indonesia.

In 1993, shortly after he began teaching at MIT, he formed Gamelan Galak Tika; his own 30 member gamelan which, this past summer, toured Bali; supported by MTC's Global Connections program. (He shares his experience below)



"I led Gamelan Galak Tika, on a tour of Bali, Indonesia in the summer of 2005. The group is a community ensemble in residence at MIT, and is devoted to developing new works by American and Balinese composers for the traditional instruments. We were invited to perform at the prestigious Bali International Arts Festival."

Listen: "Tire Fire" (mp3)

"The performances all featured two of my compositions, both approximately 25 minutes in length. Both combine gamelan with western instruments: Tire Fire uses electric guitars, keyboard, and bass; Amok uses a cellist (with electronic effects) and two sampler players, one on keyboard and one on percussion triggers. For Tire Fire, the Festival commissioned new choreography by noted Balinese choreographer I Nyoman Catra. The concerts also included works by Balinese composer Dewa Ketut Alit, and American composers Christine Southworth, Dan Schmidt, Sean Mannion, and Rebecca Zook."

Rehearsing in Bali before the Arts Festival Show (photo: Jeff Lieberman)

"In addition to the Arts Festival performance, the group played numerous other concerts in the province of Bali. The most significant was at the opening event in an annual Arts Festival on Kuta Beach, the Kuta Karnival. The event, World Peace Day, included a ceremony commemorating the victims of the 2002 terrorist attack, the freeing of dozens of sea turtles, and a performance by 100 Balinese dancers. It was attended by several Ministers in the Indonesian government. Additionally, the group played in villages in West Bali, Central Bali, and North Bali. All told, my compositions received 5 performances in the course of two weeks. This was the Indonesian premiere for both of my works."

Listen: "Amok" (mp3)

"At all the performances I spoke to the audiences in Indonesian, explaining some of the ideas behind my music. We often shared the stage of local ensembles, and thus felt that we were truly part of a cultural exchange."

"It should be noted that the Arts Festival mainly presents non-amplified, local music, and our logistical requirements were, by their standards, quite extensive. There were many problems to be faced that are not normally issues in an American venue, mostly concerning electricity. Ultimately, we made the decision to rent a generator, which we took to all performances, and this solved the problem. We had large, enthusiastic crowds at all the performances."

"The tour has significantly increased public awareness of my music in Indonesia. I have already been invited to 2 major events in Asia as a result of it: the Yogyakarta Arts Festival, and an invitation to be the keynote speaker as the 26th Annual Asian Composers Conference in New Zealand. I feel that my 15 years of cross-cultural work has begun to be recognized, and this is very gratifying."

"Personally and artistically, the tour gave me a feeling of completing a certain kind of circle. 20 years ago I was a new member of a San Francisco-based gamelan, Sekar Jaya, and joined them on their own appearance at this festival. This was the first time ANY non-Balinese group had performed on a gamelan in Bali, and as part of that program we performed new works by Michael Tenzer and Wayan Sinti. 20 years later, I went back with my own group, doing my own music, and this was significant to me. From an artistic point of view, I have reflected hard on what I saw and heard there, and I feel that it is impacting my current work, which is a new work for Yo Yo Ma's Silk Road Project."

"Galak Tika Group Singaraja," Americans plus Balinese guest musicians and dancers, before the last performance in Singaraja in North Bali