Westport, CT - Get away from the everyday with an afternoon of music and dance from Bali, Indonesia, performed by Gamelan Galak Tika.
On Saturday, May 4, starting at 3 pm in the Library’s Trefz Forum, Gamelan Galak Tika returns to Westport with original compositions by Gusti Komin, who has been hailed as one of the leading composers, performers, and teachers of Balinese music of his generation.
Galak Tika has been at the forefront of innovative, cross-cultural music for Balinese gamelan — the instrument and music of Indonesia — since 1993. Founded at MIT by Evan Ziporyn, Desak Madé Suarti Laksmi, and I Nyoman Catra, Galak Tika is currently directed by Komin, drawing its membership from across the Boston community as well as MIT students and staff. The name “Galak Tika” is Bahasa Kawi (classical Javanese, a dialect of Sanskrit) for “intense togetherness.”
The group has performed at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center Out of Doors, BAM, Boston Symphony Hall, Jordan Hall, several Bang on a Can Marathons, Southern Exposure, the Cleveland Museum of Art, Zankel Hall, the Boston Museum of Science, and the Kripalu Yoga Institute, along with many east coast universities. In 2005, Galak Tika performed at the Bali International Arts Festival and in numerous villages around the island. Watch a performance of the group here.
Widely acknowledged as master of gendér wayang, a style of gamelan music played in Bali, Komin is one of its foremost contemporary composers blending traditional and modern gamelan music in imaginative ways. An exacting teacher and rebellious spirit, Komin writes music that explodes conventions and pushes limitations of even the strongest performers.
This concert is made possible by the generosity of the Maurer Family Foundation.
Learn more: https://westportlibrary.org/event/the-music-of-bali/