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Giri Kedaton Balinese Music
Ensemble | It is presently
the only Canadian gamelan to perform on a five-tone gong kebyar
ensemble. A gamelan is composed of many intruments, including
gongs, metallophones, drums and cymbals, and sometimes suling
(flute) and rebab (an upright two-stringed indonesian fiddle)
which essentially play ornaments around the underlying melody.
Giri Kedaton's instruments, donated to Canada by the Indonesian
Government after the 1986 World Fair held in Vancouver, B.C.,
are of spectacular beauty. L'Université de Montréal
currently owns the instruments and is Giri Kedaton's official
home since 2002.
A brief history...
Founded in 1994 by Sylvain
Mathieu, who assumed the group's artistic direction for 12 years,
Giri Kedaton benefited from the teachings of the greatest Balinese
masters who were invited by l'Université de Montréal
over the years to transmit both modern and ancient Balinese tradition
of this centuries old musical culture to their new Canadian disciples.
Éric
Vandal currently leads the band, made of about 20 young Quebec
musicians and dancers Annick Brault and Ni Komang Swijani (who
have been sharing her passion for Balinese dancing since the
early days of the ensemble).
From the very beginning, the
band has revealed the exotic sounds of gamelan to a wide audience
and on many stages, performing for Radio-Canada's radio and television
productions during the 1990s. Worthy of mention is also a spectacular
appearance in Festival d'ondes Martenot (1998), where the ensemble
interpreted Canadian composer José Evangelista's composition
for gamelan and ondes Martenot.
Fall 1999 saw the group's first
tour, a series of performances in Maisons de la Culture Montréal's
stages. The next year, the band played for the 50th anniversary
of l'Université de Montréal's Music Faculty in
a concert that was broadcasted on national radio. Since 2002,
Giri Kedaton has played in a multitude of venues in Quebec, organized
benefits for humanitarian causes and collaborated on many of
Indonesia's Canadian Embassy events, including the 50th anniversary
of the relations between the two countries, presented in Toronto's
DuMaurier Theatre and Gatineau's Museum of Civilizations.
Recently
and with great success, the ensemble unveiled its latest production,
'Projet Bali X', performing in Montréal's Théatre
Plaza (2007) and Maison de la Culture Ahuntsic (2008). 'Projet
Bali X' is made exclusively of the band's original material and
mixes Balinese tradition and urban sounds in a very unique fashion.
The indeniable success of this production led the group to the
upcoming release of their first album, which will be launched
during 2009.
www.girikedaton.com | www.myspace.com/girikedaton
| girikedaton@hotmail.com
Excerpt of 'Gesuri',
composed in 1964 by I Wayan Beratha. 3.14 minutes
(Media Player is required to listen to view clip)
'Gesuri' is an acronym for
'Genta Suara Revolusi Indonesia' or 'Sounds and Bells for the
Indonesian Revolution' (11 November 2008 concert at the Centre
d'essai de l'Université de Montréal)
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