Playing bronze instruments shipped from Java, UNC’s Javanese musical ensemble will perform traditional cultural tunes tonight as exotic as the lands in which they originated.
Gamelan Nyai Saraswati — named after the Hindu goddess of music, arts and science — will perform its spring concert at the Hill Hall Auditorium.
Joshua Busman, the group’s director, said he hopes the concert will demonstrate the importance of global music groups.
“We hope people will learn about the culture of Java, and the history of the ensemble on campus,” he said. “Learning (about) a new musical instrument is like learning a new foreign language, and therefore a new way of thinking.”
Heyne Kim, a graduate student who has been an ensemble member for several years, said the concert is a way for UNC students to be immersed in different cultures.
“World music ensembles can be a way of connecting different parts of the world,” she said.
Busman said the concert will reveal how gamelan music is constructed.
“In the concert we want to try and give a sense to the audience of the logic behind the music,” he said. “We want to show the densely layered musical fabric of the gamelan.”
Kia Mantey, a junior who has been part of the group for a year, said that Javanese music is comparable to Western music.
“Javanese music is both really simple and really complex,” she said. “It is like a Western orchestra, but the instruments are made together with a specific sound.”
