Gamelan tuner Wayne Vitale visited campus this summer to tune the University's iron and bronze gamelan sets. The University Times took advantage of Vitale's visit to develop a fascinating story about the process of tuning a gamelan. According to the U-Times,
Join the Pitt African Music and Dance Ensemble, University Gamelan, and Carpathian Music Ensemble for a celebration of World Music at Pitt with this free concert at the WPU.
During three days in January, the University Gamelan joined forces with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and other world music performers and groups to introduce fourth graders from all over Western Pennsylvania to the diversity of global musical cultures. The PSO’s “Schooltime” concerts took place at Heinz Hall under the leadership of conductor Fawzi Haimor.
This October, the Department of Music will celebrate the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the University of Pittsburgh and the Indonesian College of Performing Arts (STSI). This momentous occasion will include a concert featuring musicians and dancers from the Indonesian College for Performing Arts, lectures by guest scholars, class demonstrations, and collaborations with Pitt’s University Gamelan.
Master Drummer Ega Robot joins the University Gamelan as they play the gamelan music of the Sundanese people, an ethnic group that inhabits roughly the western third of the island of Java.
The April 10th performance by the University Gamelan has been canceled. The April 11th perofrmance will take place as originally scheduled.
For tickets to the April 11th performance, call 412-624-7529 or visit music.pitt.edu/tickets.Tickets in advance: general admission is $8.50; non-Pitt students and seniors are $5. At the door: general admission is $12; non-Pitt students and seniors are $8. Pitt students: free with valid ID.
Musicians and dancers from the Indonesian College of Performing Arts (STSI) in Bandung, Indonesia will present an evening of vocal music, instrumental music, and dance. The performers will explore a broad range of cultural expressions from the ancient aristocratic tembang Sunda Cianjuran (Sundanese vocal poetry accompanied by zither and flute) to the ebullient music of bamboo instruments and the popular jaipongan dance that thrilled audiences in the 1980s.
On Friday, September 6, the Pitt Arts Arts Festival will take place at the William Pitt Union from noon–5:30 p.m. This year, the Arts Festival will feature two outstanding Department of Music Ensembles: the University Gamelan and the Men's Glee Glub. Live music performances by these and other groups will take place throughout the afternoon on the east porch of the William Pitt Union (facing the Cathedral). Pitt Arts will also have a photobooth on the WPU lawn.
One Night Only! The University Gamelan, directed by Andrew Weintraub, performs Bamboo and Bronze: Flute and Gamelan Music of West Java. Special guest artist and bamboo flute virtuoso Burhan Sukarma will perform on suling/bamboo flute. Kaitlyn Myers will lead members of the ensemble as they perform on Pitt's Gamelan Degung Ligar Pasundan.
Pitt’s Gamelan, Carpathian Music Ensemble, and African Music and Dance Ensemble present an afternoon of music, dancing, and food. With special guest Sounds of Steel, a steel drum band from Urban Pathaways Charter School.