Thursday April 21 – 24, 2022 | Metropolitan State University of Denver
The Rocky Mountain Balinese Gamelan Festival (RMBGF) will be the first of its kind in the United States. This four-day festival features an academic symposium (Moving Mountains: Sustainability and Balinese Arts) with invited keynote speakers David Harnish and Gamelan Tunas Mekar’s Artist-in-Residence I Made Lasmawan, a series of workshops (for beginning and advanced musicians and dancers on topics like composition, dance, vocal music, and technique), free family-friendly community workshops, performances from gamelans along the Rocky Mountains, and two evening concerts (on Friday and Saturday) featuring Denver-based Gamelan Tunas Mekar and Krama Bali USA (made up of leading artists from Bali).
This festival invites students, faculty, and interested community members from the Rocky Mountain region and beyond (including gamelans from Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Utah, and South Dakota) to join us for an epic weekend.
Buy tickets and view full schedule here!
Gamelan Tunas Mekar presents Mountain Offerings, a Performance of Balinese Music and Dance
Saturday, March 5, 2022 | 7:30 PM
Newman Center Presents
2344 East Iliff Avenue
Denver, CO
Box office: 303-871-7720
Main: 303-871-6200
Gamelan Tunas Mekar presents Mountain Offerings, an evening performance of new and traditional music and dance that provides a glimpse into a Balinese temple ceremony. Uniting Colorado and Bali through their mountainous landscapes, Tunas Mekar offers a cross-cultural experience of the dynamic relationship of spirituality in the expressive arts. Through this performance we highlight ceremonies in Bali which seek to offer people moments of peace in times of cacophonous social interactions.
This performance features three Balinese orchestras, including Gamelan Semara Dana and Gamelan Angklung, with the ensemble performing traditional works and premiering new compositions by I Putu Tangkas Adi Hiranmayena, I Made Tangkas Ade Wijaya, and a collective work for Gamelan Baleganjur composed by Gamelan Tunas Mekar. Collectively these pieces embody cosmological relationships to place through traditional practices of Balinese artistic expression. Separately these pieces represent: processional music for life-cycle ceremonies; sitting music for temple preparations; music depicting the nature of a living tradition, rooted in the earth and history; a traditional welcome dance; a dance depicting the bird of paradise from Irian Jaya; a benevolent protector of community; and a dance requiring great versatility as the performer dances, sings and plays fluidly amid the ensemble.
PURCHASE TICKETS: https://bit.ly/nctunas
Learn more about the Robert and Judi Newman Center at the University of Denver: Newman Center Presents
RSVP to the Facebook Event and invite your friends!
We look forward to seeing you there!
Gamelan Tunas Mekar is returning Dazzle in December!
Wednesday, December 4, 2019 | 7 PM
Dazzle
1512 Curtis St
Denver, CO 80202
Highlighting the experimental nature within Gamelan traditions, we are excited to present a diverse set of expressive arts that span a range of artistic approaches.
Experience the arts of Bali as it collaborates with Rocky Mountain sensibilities. This includes contemporary and traditional pieces on our Gamelan Angklung, accompanied by dance, as well as a repurposing of “metal” on our Gamelan Balaganjur.
We’re excited to be returning to the Dazzle stage in the beautiful and historic downtown Baur’s building.
Tickets are $12, and can be purchased online (link below) or in person at Dazzle.
PURCHASE TICKETS: http://bit.ly/gtmdazzle2019
Learn more about Dazzle: dazzledenver.com
RSVP to the Facebook Event and invite your friends!
We look forward to seeing you there!
Pesta Kesenian Bali – 41st Bali Arts Festival
June 21, 2019
Denpasar Arts Centre (Taman Werdhi Budaya)
Jalan Nusa Indal No. 1, Panjer
Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia, 80236
Tunas Mekar presents traditional and new music and dance pieces of Bali, performed using the Gamelan Angklung and Gong Kebyar.
This engagement is supported by Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation through USArtists International in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. For more information, visit https://www.midatlanticarts.org.
Karangasem Art & Culture Festival
June 22, 2019
Jl. Ngurah Rai No. 29 Amlapura
Karangasem, Bali, Indonesia, 80811
Gelar Kesenian (Karangasem Art & Culture Festival) celebrates the arts and culture of the regency of Karangasem. Located in East Bali, Karangasem is home to Gunung Agung, the holiest volcano in all of Bali, home to the mother temple, Pura Besakih. The Karangasem Art & Culture Festival was designed to highlight the arts and culture of the region, with a focus on the traditional arts of the region. In inviting Tunas Mekar to perform, the festival is expanding their reach by including a foreign ensemble for the first time.
Gamelan Manik Kusuma with Gamelan Tunas Mekar
May 11, 2019
2-4pm
King Center Concert Hall (Auraria Campus)
855 Lawrence Way, Denver, Colorado 80204
Please join Gamelan Angklung Manik Kusuma at MSU Denver for an afternoon of music and dance from Bali, Indonesia featuring special guests, Gamelan Tunas Mekar.
Under the direction of MSU Denver Department of Music faculty member I Made Lasmawan, Gamelan Manik Kusuma will perform music on gamelan baleganjur and gamelan angklung. They will be joined by Gamelan Anak Manik Galih(“Jewel of the Rice”), the newly formed Denver Children’s Gamelan founded by Professor Elizabeth Macy, and under the direction of I Made Tangkas Ade Wijaya and Ni Putu Indira Sandika.
Based in Denver, Gamelan Tunas Mekar is a community orchestra under the direction of Music at MSU Denver faculty member, Made Lasmawan (noted Balinese composer and Artist-in-Residence for the ensemble). Tunas Mekar will be performing their Gamelan Semaradana set for the 2019 Bali Arts Festival, featuring a world premiere composition by Ade Wijaya (Catur Guru) and two compositions by Bapak Lasmawan, Tirta Bhuana and Legong Manik Galih Catur Dewi with choreography by Ibu Ni Ketut Marni!
TICKETS: Tickets are $5 and are available through the King Center Box Office at 303-556-2296. There will be a $1 transaction fee per ticket purchased. MSU Denver Students, Faculty, and Staff must present a valid ID to receive a free ticket.
PARKING: Free parking is available for all Music events in the 7th Street Parking Garage with a voucher upon exit.
See Events Archive for a list of our past concerts and events.
