At St Aloysius College we have taken gamelan into our heart!
We are grateful to Mas Suhirdjan for making and tuning our gamelan for us. His photo is on the wall of our gamelan room.
The original instruments were purchased in 2002. The program has been supported and encouraged by the vision of our Principal Sister Judith Redden. Deetje and Hannah Tunstill (Flinders University gamelan) played an important role in training senior Music students during the early years. Since then, more instruments have been added and introductory gamelan lessons have become an established part of our Music curriculum. In 2011 an Australian government Building Asia Literacy grant enabled us to employ Dodi Darmadi (a specialist performer and kendang player, trained in Bandung, West Java) as our gamelan musician in residence. Five year olds were included in the program for the first time. Classroom teachers also had a taste of gamelan and the Music teachers extended their skills. A children’s performance group Gamelan Melati was formed and invited to perform at public events. The gamelan program continues to flourish!
Barbara Burr
barburr@me.com