Westminster Chinese Instrument Orchestra Presents Music for Chinese and Balinese Instruments

The Westminster Chinese Instrument Orchestra, conducted by Wang Guowei, and Gamelan Dharma Swara will perform traditional and new music for Chinese and Balinese instruments on Sunday, November 24 at 8 p.m. in Bristol Chapel on the Westminster Choir College of Rider University campus in Princeton. Admission is free.

The program will feature compositions based on Chinese folk music; Topeng Tua, a traditional masked dance; Godeg Miring, an instrumental work; and Hujan Mas a mid-20th-century work in the gong kebyar style.  They will also perform new works by American composer and Gamelan Dharma Swara member Joel Mellin and renowned Balinese composer Dewa Ketut Alit; as well as compositions by John Pasathas and I Wayan Gde Yudane.

Founded in 2011, the Westminster Chinese Instrument Orchestra provides an opportunity for Rider University students to diversify their education in an increasingly globalized age. By participating in this ensemble, the students not only learn an instrument, they also gain some insight into Chinese culture and history.

Gamelan Dharma Swara is one of the most respected Balinese gamelan ensembles outside of Indonesia.  Its repertoire draws from classical gamelan literature and incorporates contemporary pieces. The ensemble has performed at the Museum of Modern Art, Asia Society, Japan Society, Metropolitan Museum, Brooklyn Museum, Symphony Space, LaMama E.T.C., and at Columbia, Princeton, and Yale universities.  Gamelan Dharma Swara performs on two sets of instruments representing different styles and repertoire: the innovative 7-tone gamelan semara dana and the gender wayang, a five-tone ensemble that accompanies Balinese life-cycle ceremonies and shadow theatre.