乐播传媒

乐播传媒 is about 9,600 miles from his hometown of Surakarta, Java, but the gamelan musician and master puppeteer Darsono has found that the college was surprisingly well-prepared for his residency this academic year.

Boasting a longstanding Indonesian performance arts program that鈥檚 equipped with two sets of the melodic percussion instruments known as gamelan 鈥� not to mention an extensive collection of shadow puppets, around 250 of them 鈥� 乐播传媒 has much more to work with than many colleges, says Darsono (who, like many Indonesians, uses only one name).

So what we have here is an instance of value meeting value. Heir to an esteemed family tradition of music and puppetry in the Central Javanese city of Surakarta, Darsono is one of the most prominent musicians from a region that鈥檚 a major hub for performing arts.

“He is one of the most highly ranked musicians of his generation,” says Associate Professor of Music Gina Fatone, director of 乐播传媒鈥� gamelan program.

A Connecticut resident currently teaching at Tufts, Smith, and Yale as well as 乐播传媒, Darsono has also taught and performed in the Netherlands, Japan, and Singapore. Since he arrived at 乐播传媒 last fall, he has spent four or five days per month at the college 鈥� a typical schedule for artists-in-residence in music here.

He has lectured in music and Asian studies classes and has worked with the 乐播传媒 Gamelan Orchestra, prepping the ensemble for performances that include upcoming gigs on and .

On the latter date, after two weeks of daily rehearsal in the context of the Short Term unit 鈥淧erforming Musical Art of Indonesia,鈥� Darsono will direct and perform a Javanese 鈥渟hadow play鈥� with musical support from the gamelan orchestra.

Darsono even wrote a piece of music in traditional style that the gamelan performed in December. It’s a theme song of sorts: It incorporates Javanese lyrics, and the first letters of every line add up to spell 鈥溊植ゴ�媒.鈥�

In addition, through the course 鈥淰isiting Artist in Music Ensemble,鈥� Darsono has coached individual students in Javanese gamelan and puppetry.

“He really loves to teach,” says Fatone. “So despite the fact that he’s of the very upper echelon of classical Javanese gamelan performers, he enjoys teaching absolute beginners. There鈥檚 been a very warm interaction. He鈥檚 very patient. And the students really enjoy him.”

Kinsey Moser, a senior from Burke, Va., who has played with the 乐播传媒 gamelan for almost three years, is one of those students. 鈥淗e never seems to get frustrated even if we are struggling with a simple pattern or rhythm,鈥� she says.

鈥淥ne particular instance when his teaching really made a difference for me was when I was learning a particularly difficult part on the 鈥榖onang panerus鈥欌�� 鈥� a sort of xylophone that uses tuned gongs instead of bars 鈥� 鈥渁nd I was unable to play it.

鈥淗e picked up two mallets and started playing it for me on the other side of the bonang, facing me, so ultimately he was playing the bonang upside down for my benefit. It was amazing to see him playing the bonang upside down, while conducting the rest of the orchestra, and singing the vocal part to the piece at the same time.鈥�

The April 4 program will include a substantial set by Ngudi Raras, a six-member gamelan chamber ensemble that features Darsono and is currently on a U.S. tour. 鈥淔or the small group, we just meet and play together without arranging it before,鈥� Darsono says.

鈥淓verything is spontaneous鈥� 鈥� but making it work requires close attention to the other players and a profound knowledge of the musical vocabulary.

It’s like jazz in that regard. But that resemblance may be as close to Western music as traditional gamelan gets. Much about the genre 鈥� musical structures, cultural uses, performance practice, instrumentation 鈥� sets it apart from music familiar to Americans.

So the Indonesian artists-in-residence that Fatone engages every few years bring a needed depth of experience and knowledge to the program. 鈥淚t鈥檚 critical, I think, for the gamelan students to interact with a native musician and performer,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t gives a lot of essential vitality to the program.鈥�

鈥淚 came from many generations of puppeteers and musicians,鈥� explains Darsono, whose mother was a singer and whose father was a puppeteer and a musician. 鈥淚’ve studied this music since I was really, really young 鈥� almost since I was born.鈥�

乐播传媒鈥� gamelan program is a sui generis expression of the college鈥檚 mission-driven embrace of the transformative power of human differences. 鈥淚 think for students it鈥檚 very important to have experience with a different culture than you’ve had before,鈥� Darsono says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 great for you [to learn] how to respect, how to work together with somebody that you didn’t know before.

鈥淚n Java, this music is based on oral tradition, so it鈥檚 [about] listening to others,鈥� he continues. 鈥淭he most important thing is to listen to each other 鈥� it’s like a conversation, you know, like a discussion.鈥�