GAMELAN SHOWDOWN: A Balinese Battles of the Bands

Featuring new works by Evan Ziporyn, Kyle Miller, and Théo Mérigeau

Come for the music and stay for a light reception afterward, celebrating the release of Yowana Sari’s new album and the creative ties between these two communities of musicians.

Gamelan Yowara Sari, Queens University
Michael Lipsey, Fred Trumpy, Ruka Shinoroshi, co-directors
Kyle Miller, 8-string electric guitar
Jack Lynch, 7-string electric bass

Gamelan Galak Tika, MIT
Evan Ziporyn, director
Sumie Kaneko, koto & shamisen
Dan Schmidt, keyboard gedé
Emma Terrell, keyboard alit
Blake Newman, acoustic bass

Two leading American gamelan ensembles - MIT’s own Gamelan Galak Tika and Queens College’s Gamelan Yowana Sari - come together for the first time for a Balinese mebarung (literally: ‘melody competition’), a joint concert in MIT’s stunning Thomas Tull Hall.

The program offers a retrospective of Evan Ziporyn’s genre-bending works for gamelan, spanning three decades of cross-cultural exploration and collaboration. Galak Tika revives Amok! (1996, for gamelan, bass, and electronics), and Aradhana (2004/16, for gamelan and koto/shamisen), featuring the return of the masterful Sumie Kaneko, a frequent MIT Sounding guest artist. Yowana Sari, making their Boston-area debut and celebrating the release of their new album on Cantaloupe Music, performs Ziporyn’s aERIFoRm kITE (2024, for gamelan, 8-string guitar, and 7-string bass), along with new works by Kyle Miller and Théo Mérigeau.

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