“An Alternative Gamelan by Masahiro Miwa”
The program titled “An Alternative Gamelan by Masahiro Miwa” produced by him is one high-lighted theme of this year’s festival. The art collective “Kita” with members of multiple nationalities from Japan and Indonesia is directing the program and Marga Sari Gamelan Ensemble oriented in Java Gamelan tradition performs music composed by Mamoru Fujieda, Masako Koide, Yasuno Miyauchi, and Makoto Nomura.
The concert program titled “Music in the Universe” (one of two programs of “the Producer Series”) is held at the main hall on August 27 (Sun.), which newly commissioned works by the above-mentioned composers and Gongs and Bamboo by José Maceda who was the composer of the Philippines known as an ethnomusicologist too. The work of Maceda is the composition for gamelan ensemble, ryuteki, bamboo instruments from the Philippines, doouble bassoon, and children’s choir. Local instruments from the West, Japan, the Philippines, and Gamelan (Java oriented) will be in harmony beyond each tonality. The music is based on the concept to allow each instrument, without giving any principal role to them, to be independent of the others and integrated overall.
Another one is the “project type” concert program titled “En-gawa” from August 25 (Fri.) to 27 (Sun.). In this project, probably Kita who is in charge of the project direction has a key role. Kita means “we” in Indonesian. They adopt the form of free organization with non-fixed members of multiple nationalities. So it is obvious that they are not in authentic concert hall-style production. The open house where Gamelan Ensemble performs is installed inside the Blue Rose (Small Hall) and accommodates many performing arts of different genres and Gamelan there. Also, street stalls are set up, and on the nights of August 25 (Fri.) and 26 (Sat.) symposium titled “Gamelan Assembly” is held.
This “En-gawa” program has no intermission. There are no fixed openings and endings, and the space is always filled up with music. It is not the tense atmosphere that music provides in the space, but the slow one in which sound from people’s small talk around the street stalls blends.
Originally, Suntory Hall itself is designed to be accessible for all the people who love music. It could be said that the “En-gawa” is their original point of return after a long roundabout.
