The planted seeds…

The history of Balinese music in Colorado began in 1974, when the Colorado Women's College purchased a four-note gamelan angklung, which was found stored and unplayed in Karangasem, Bali, and had it shipped to its campus in northwest Denver. This angklung is thought to be the last village-owned gamelan to be allowed to leave Bali by the Indonesian government for reasons of cultural preservation.

It was the intention of the College, as expressed in the grant proposal that led to the gamelan's acquisition, to introduce a cultural example of communal cooperation to the college, Denver, and Colorado. Those most involved in the process believed that the example of gamelan could foster better relations, togetherness and a sense of community in disparate parties through the "artful presentation of a culture that was outside of any of the party members' cultures."

The Women's College maintained an active gamelan program until its closure in 1980, at which time the University of Denver acquired the instruments. For the second time in its existence, the angklung was placed in storage until it was rescued from obscurity in 1988 by a group of local musicians who were granted the instruments by DU.

A flower opens…

Once the instruments were acquired, the ensemble’s modest beginnings were overseen by Wayne Vitale, director Gamelan Sekar Jaya based in El Cerrito, California. In 1990, six of the local Colorado musicians took a trip to bali, and there the ensemble was named by I Ketut Madri of the village of Pengosekan. "Tunas" means a stored bit of life force, such as a seed of a floral bud, and "Mekar" means to put forth, and thus, Gamelan Tunas Mekar began. This name has given the group its sense of identity: a wayward seed, blown far from the parent plant and landing on unfamiliar soil that has nonetheless produced a stunning flower.

Rooting in Denver…

In 1992, Tunas Mekar was invited to perform in Aspen, CO by I Ngurah Suparta, the Cultural Attache to the Indonesian Ambassador in Washington DC. A Balinese drummer, composer and teacher was brought from his post at San Diego State University to help the group prepare for its first time accompanying Balinese dancers. This musician, I Made Lasmawan of the village of Bangah, relocated the following year to Colorado to teach at Colorado College, and is still Gamelan Tunas Mekar’s primary Artist-In-Residence to this day.

I Made Lasmawan dedicated Gamelan Tunas Mekar in August of 1993. The current ensemble, under the instruction of Lasmawan, is comprised of both professional musicians and non-professional "students" of gamelan music. True to its name, the influence of Gamelan Tunas Mekar in bringing Pak Made to the Rocky Mountain region of the United States has brought to life a number of college and university gamelan ensembles (all directed by Pak Made) including a Gamelan Tunjung Sari at Colorado College in Colorado Springs, Gamelan Candra Wyoga at the University of Wyoming at Laramie, Gamelan Genta Kencana at the University of Colorado in Boulder, and Gamelan Manik Kusuma at Metropolitan State University of Denver.

Blooming in Bali…

In 1996, the governor of Bali invited Tunas Mekar to perform at the eighteenth annual Bali Arts Festival in the Capitol City of Denpasar. Tunas Mekar thus became the second American gamelan to be accorded this honor. The success of this performance, as evidenced by the large and enthusiastic Balinese audience, lifted Tunas Mekar to a new level of understanding and confidence.

A live telecast of Tunas Mekar's performance at the eighteenth annual Bali Arts Festival in Denpasar, which included performances by up-and-coming Balinese dancers, made Tunas Mekar instantly well known around the island. Subsequent articles in The Bali Post and Gatra, Indonesia's most widely read magazines, further cemented the group's reputation as "the next big thing" on the global gamelan scene.

Cultivating worldwide…

Tunas Mekar's 1996 Bali Arts Festival performance continues to be televised throughout Indonesia to this day, and the group's influence extends even as far as Antarctica. In 1990, a Tunas Mekar member working at McMurdo Station built a gamelan angklung out of electrical conduit, and the McMurdo Village Gamelan was the first group to perform at the inaugural “Icestock,” Antarctica's only annual outdoor music festival.

Since its early beginnings, Tunas Mekar has had over a hundred members and has presented more than four hundred and fifty performances. The group has built a repertoire of over fifty instrumental and dance pieces, and has brought dozens of Balinese dancers and musicians to Colorado to perform and hold public workshops. Its rich and beautiful history, as well as its strong legacy continues to grow and flourish with each passing year.