This summer, Gamelan Dharma Swara is making a long-awaited return to Bali.
As we make this journey for the first time since 2010, our organization is at a pivotal moment for significant artistic growth. The cultural immersion and artistic exchange made possible while in Bali will culminate in a recording to capture a new height of creative ambition and document an exciting chapter of musical exploration.
LP Recording Project
Our trip to Bali is the culmination of years of artistic work. While Dharma Swara has been actively performing at New York City venues such as (le) Poisson Rouge and Symphony Space and cultural institutions such as MoMA and Asia Society, the ensemble has not produced a new album in 15 years. In Bali, we will not only have the opportunity to create a recording inspired by the environment where our artistic practice originated, but also to rehearse in the presence of the originating composers or ensembles. We will be working with our Artist-in-Residence Gusti Komin and family, rehearsing daily and performing under his direction. We will also workshop with pre-eminent composer Dewa Alit, and learn from the musicians of the famed gong kebyar group Abdi Budaya.
Dharma Swara will also have the honor and privilege of inaugurating a new set of instruments (currently in production) commissioned by Gusti Komin—the first full set of gamelan instruments that his family has ever owned. The album will be recorded on this set, a semara dana gamelan made by pande Wayan Suparta.
A Significant Opportunity for Artistic and Cultural Exchange
In the lead-up to the recording, we will take part in daily intensive rehearsals with and among some of the best musicians from Bali. In addition, the tour agenda will entail artistic and cultural exchange, including “friendly competition” performances (mebarung) with gamelan groups in various villages. Dharma Swara is also delighted to be a featured performer and representative of American gamelan at the prestigious annual arts and culture festival, Pesta Kesenian Bali (PKB).
This tour will also serve as a unique occasion for our dancers to study with prestigious dance artists Made Cat, an internationally acclaimed gambuh and mask dancer, and Cok Pring, an award-winning dance and Balinese opera teacher in Singapadu. The enrichment and guidance dancers will receive by working with these artists will elevate the execution of our current repertoire. The dancers will also take this significant opportunity to learn new classic pieces.
We are raising $10,000 towards the recording project, which includes the following costs:
Recording engineers
Rental of recording venue
Gamelan transport fees
Offerings (asking for divine inspiration and good auspices during recording)
Compensating of Balinese artists involved in recording and who contribute to the development of the group in the weeks leading up to the recording (Komin, Komin’s family members, Dewa Alit, Abdi Budaya)
Post-production
Record pressing
Album artwork
This recording project accounts for 10 percent of the cost of Gamelan Dharma Swara’s Bali tour ($100,000). Should the funds raised exceed actual expenses, any surplus would be reinvested in the ensemble’s learning activities in Bali.
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