Gamelan Music & Film: 'Goong: Sound Through Fire'

• Ki Midiyanto
• Heni Savitri

Join us for an enchanting evening of Gamelan Music & Film: Goong – Sound Through Fire on Saturday, March 9, 2024 at 7:30pm. Lewis & Clark College's Venerable Showers of Beauty Gamelan will perform for it's 44th year in Portland at the Agnes Flanagan Chapel. The ensemble, one of the Pacific Northwest's first and most enduring world music groups, will feature traditional music from Central Java, Indonesia, with world renowned special guests Ki Midiyanto and Heni Savitri.

Then join us for the screening of Goong – Sound Through Fire, directed by Maria Mendonça. Sukoharjo in Central Java is one of the few remaining centres of bronze gong forging in Indonesia. Thef film follows the creation of a large Sundanese gong (goong) in Sutarno's forge in Jatiteken, Sukoharjo. The film takes an immersive, multi-sensory approach to the process, guided by the occasional interjections of Sutarno. The rich, multi-layered soundscape of the forge and the ever-shifting colours and intensities of the fire accompany the smashing and melting of the copper and tin; the rhythmic hammering, shaping and firing of the emerging, red-hot bronze disc by a team of craftsmen; the voicing of the forged instrument; and finally the sounding of the goong by the master gong-maker.

Whether you are a music enthusiast or simply curious to explore different artistic expressions, this event promises an unforgettable evening. Don't miss this opportunity to immerse yourself in the captivating world of gamelan music.

About Venerable Showers of Beauty Gamelan (Lewis & Clark College)

http://www.vsbgamelan.org/

About Lewis & Clark College Music Department

https://college.lclark.edu/departments/music/

About Ki Midiyanto

Renowned Central Javanese musician and puppet master (dhalang) Ki Midiyanto teaches and performs as Lecturer and Co-Director of Gamelan Sari Raras at University of California, Berkeley, and also as guest artist and instructor throughout the U.S., Indonesia, and internationally.

About Heni Savitri

Heni Savitri began to study sindhènan (Javanese singing with gamelan) in 2002. In 2003, she won the competition for best vocalist in her native district of Wonogiri, Central Java. She enrolled in the Performing Arts Conservatory in Surakarta in 2004, and began representing the institution in competitions the following year as well as performing in shadow puppet plays.

After enrolling in Indonesia’s state conservatory for the traditional performing arts in Surakarta, she was chosen as the singer for many recordings of new faculty compositions and traditional works, representing the academy in the 2008 international vocal competition in Jakarta. Since coming to the United States, she has been in great demand for concerts by the leading gamelan ensembles in North America.