Photo by Byba Sepit

Gamelan Dharma Swara studies and performs traditional and new works for Balinese music and dance. Through performance and education, we bring Balinese gamelan to the widest audience and participant base possible, and we endeavor to perform with spirit, dedication and gratitude.

"Awesome. . Stunning. . . Astonishing. . . " Bali Post, July 18 2010

"Amazing!" All Thing's Considered, NPR, October 17 2010

"Spectacular!" New York Times, November 12 2010

"World Renowned!" Time Out New York

"Inspiring, Bravo!" Michael Tenzer




Photo: Gamelan Dharma Swara performs on the Open Stage Ardha Candra
Denpasar, Bali, July 8, 2010. Photo by Widnyana Sudibya.

Back from Bali

Gamelan Dharma Swara embarked on an overwhelmingly successful Bali Tour in 2010, where we played in several villages and performed as the first non-Balinese group to compete against professional Balinese ensembles in the annual "battle-of-the-bands" concerts at the Bali Arts Festival.

Gamelan Dharma Swara's Debut Album

Recorded in Bali, Indonesia, Gamelan Dharma Swara's debut album features studio recordings of our recent Bali Tour repertoire: Tabuh Pisan Bangun Anyar (Beratha), Kebyar Legong (Wendres), Sikut Sanga (McGraw), Sudamala (Collaboration). This 2-Disc set is available for purchase through PayPal. Price includes shipping.

Listen to a preview medley of selections from the album and be one of the first to listen to the full album by ordering your copy today.

Listen to a preview

Photo: Talia Weiner. Graphic Design: Ardi Kuhn




Upcoming Events

January 13, 2013 at 12 noon: Beginner's music workshop. Aaron Copland School of Music, Queens College. For more information or to register, contact info at dharmaswara.org. $20.

February 10, 2013 at 3 p.m.: Fat Cat. 75 Christopher Street at 7th Avenue. New York, NY | 212.675.6056 | Features split program with guests Gamelan Raga Kusuma of Richmond, VA. Cover charge, $3.

May 13, 2013 at 7:30 p.m.: Music Mondays at Advent Lutheran Church. 2504 Broadway, New York, NY | 212.665.2504 | Free.



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Recent Press

Village Voice Blog on Dharma Swara's self-titled debut album and an interview with GDS Director and composer, Andy McGraw. January 18. 2011.

The New York Times Feature on Gamelan Dharma Swara and its CD release at Le Poisson Rouge. Sounds of Bali, Traditional Yet Evolving
By LARA PELLEGRINELLI. Dec 12, 2010.

Story on NPR's All Things Considered. The American Stars Of An Indonesian Musical Style by Gail Wein, Oct. 17, 2010

Radio Broadcast feature on Voice of America. American Musicians Make Balinese Gamelan Their Own, Gail Wein, July 1, 2010

NTDTV Segment on our Spring Concert, 2009.

"Adventurous listeners...should plan on getting tickets the minute they go onsale, considering how quickly both this past weekend’s concerts sold out."
- Lucid Culture concert review of our Fall 2008 Performance

"...brightly tingling and hypnotically psychedelic." - Lucid Culture review of our Make Music New York Performance, McCarren Park, Brooklyn.

The New York Times posts a picture of our youngest dancer, Kadek Bagus Bhayu Saptanyana, at Make Music New York Festival

Also featured in NYTimes.com: The Week in Pictures for June 27

 

 

 

 


Select Recent Performances

Sunday, May 20, 2012 at 2pm: (Le) Poisson Rouge. 158 Bleecker Street, New York, NY 10012 | 212.505.FISH Tickets are $20. This performance includes wayang.

Saturday, June 16, 2012 at 7pm: The Princeton Festival. Taplin Auditorium. Tickets are $30.

Wednesday, June 27, 2012 at 5pm: Caramoor Festival - Paradise in the South Pacific, Dancing at Dusk on Friends Field. Tickets: $10.00 Adult, $5.00 Kid

Sunday, March 18, 2012 at 8pm: Gershwin Hotel. The acclaimed experimentalist and guitarist Shahzad Ismaily will perform an opening set.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 8PM. (Le) Poisson Rouge/Wordless Music Series. Dharma Swara opens for Plaid. (Event Info)

Thursday, August 25, 2011, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY. Part of the MoMA Nights series, Gamelan Dharma Swara's performance demonstrates how Balinese gamelan is a living tradition that evolves and adapts to changing historical traditions. Included on the program are Pendet (a traditional offering dance that now exists in many versions), Kebyar Gandrung (a masterwork from the early 20th century in the highly unpredictable kebyar style), and Kupu Kupu Kuning (a virtuosic 2009 showpiece by I Made Subandi, one of Bali's leading composers). Event Info

Sunday, May 22, 2011, Le Poisson Rouge. 158 Bleecker St, New York, NY. Doors open: 7:00. Show Time: 8:00. Tickets: Advance: $15, Day of: $17. Dharma Swara joins forces with Brooklyn's Momenta Quartet for the Western premiere of I Wayan Yudane's and Jack Body's House in Bali for small gamelan, string quartet and narrator. DS will also perform a new set of rare seven-tone music for the gamelan semara dana and virtuosic dance works of the classic kebyar repertoire. (A House in Bali is made possible in part with public funds from the Manhattan Community Arts Fund, supported by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and administered by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council).

Sunday, December 19th, 2010. Le Poisson Rouge Bali Tour CD Release Concert. 158 Bleecker St, New York, NY. Doors open: 6:30. Show Time: 7:30. Tickets: Advance: $15, Day of: $17. Gamelan Dharma Swara '2010 Bali Tour' Double CD Release Concert at Le Poisson Rouge. Join us at New York's hippest new music club to celebrate the release of our latest CD and enjoy an evening of drinks, dinner and the din of Balinese gamelan. We will be performing a brand new set of traditional and contemporary Balinese music and dance.


Friday, May 21, 2010. 8pm. Asia Society. Support Gamelan Dharma Swara at our final major performance before departing for our first tour to Bali! We will unveil our tour repertoire and a full cast of dancers at an exclusive performance at the Asia Society, America's leading institution for promoting Asian culture. Video.

Sunday, April 11, 2010. 7:00pm. Joe's Pub. $12. Gamelan Dharma Swara performs its first show at Joe's Pub! Join us for an intimate performance of traditional and experimental Balinese music and dance at this legendary downtown music establishment.  Dharma Swara will present virtuosic dance works of the kebyar repertoire, experimental instrumental collaborations and a premiere of its cutting edge accompaniment to Balinese shadow theater.

Gamelan Dharma Swara Annual Fall/Winter Concert
Saturday, December 12th, 8:00 pm & Sunday, December 13th, 2:00 pm. Consulate of the Republic of Indonesia Gamelan Dharma Swara presents a preview of repertoire to be performed during their summer, 2010 tour of Indonesia. This evening of Balinese music and dance will include a performance of Kebyar Legong, the famously challenging 30 minute dance work of the virtuosic kebyar repertoire. This will be the first time the complete work, composed in the 1920s by I Wayan Wendres, will be performed outside of Bali. The ensemble will also present performances of rare ceremonial works for the Balinese temple and shadow play.

November 22, 2009. 12:00-6:00PM. $10 Museum Members, $12 General Public. New Museum, 235 Bowery, New York, NY Dharma Swara members play incidental music for Brody Condon’s Case, an experimental adaptation of the 80's cyberpunk novel, Neuromancer. Event Info

May 9-10, 2009. Gamelan Dharma Swara Annual Spring Concert. Consulate of the Republic of Indonesia

Spring Concert flyerGamelan Dharma Swara presents its annual spring concerts of traditional Balinese music and dance at the Consulate of the Republic of Indonesia. This program will feature topeng masked dances by world renowned artists Dr. I Madé Bandem and I Madé Sidia of the Indonesian National Conservatory.

February 12, 2009. Gendér Wayang at Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, at New York Philharmonic's School Day Concerts. Part of Music with an Accent, an educational program for elementary through high school students exploring various cultures that influenced great Western music.

November 22 & 23, 2008. Dharma Swara's Annual Fall Concerts. Consulate of the Republic of Indonesia.

Fall 08 flyerGamelan Dharma Swara presents its annual fall concerts including classics of the kebyar, pelegongan, semar pegulingan and gender wayang repertoire. Featuring the rarely performed Legong Jobog and the dynamic Barong lion dances performed by Balinese master dancers.

Photograph by Greg Soble

November 8, 2008. Princeton University, Liberation Hall, NJ. Carl A. Fields Center. 7:30-10:00 pm.
Sponsorsed by PERMIAS Princeton. Gamelan Dharma Swara will play a set of Balinese music including pelegongan and rare 7-toned semara dana music in an evening festival showcasing Indonesian cultures and performing arts.

Target First Saturdays at the Brooklyn Museum - Saturday, June 7, 2008 6:30 - 8 p.m. Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Auditorium, 3rd floor. Gamelan Dharma Swara presents traditional Balinese music and dancers. (More about Target First Saturdays)

Issue Project Room, Brooklyn NY - May 17, 2008, 8 pm An Evening of Indonesian and Indonesian-Inspired Music and Dance in Brooklyn, featuring Matthew Welch's Blarvuster, Andrew McGraw, Shahzad Ismaily and Gamelan Dharma Swara.

Japan Society, New York – March 21, 2008, 7:30 pm Tzadik Label Music Series III: Ikue Mori - Celebrating 30 years of Life, Love & Music in NYC (event website)

Yale University, New Haven, CT - March 1, 2008 Gamelan Dharma Swara was featured at the Yale Southeast Asia Studies Council's Annual Spring Festival (more information and photos)

Gamelan Dharma Swara: Rwa Bhineda - The Sacred Balance. February 17, 2007 at Symphony Space. Gamelan Dharma Swara presented the spectacular clash between the gruesome Rangda and the Barong protector dragon, illuminating the Balinese use of music, dance, and drama to negotiate harmony between dark and light forces in the universe. With featured guest artistic director I Wayan Dibia.

 

      (c) 2009-2010 Arts Indonesia Gamelan Dharma Swara