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In Durham  

Durham University was a real pioneer of Gamelan in the UK. In the late 70's the Professor of Music, Eric Taylor, arranged a series of hugely successful Oriental Music festivals and it was at one of these that the first Gamelan performers to come to the UK played.

A few years later and Durham's own Gamelan arrived, along with Sri Hastanto, a top student of the Academy in Surakarta, Central Java, who did his PhD in Durham and later became head of the Academy back in Java.

Durham also sent the first UK student to Java in what became a regular programme of UK music students studying in the Academy for a year, bringing back a wealth of expertise and hugely stimulating the UK Gamelan community.

The Durham instruments were tuned in 2007 along with many other sets in the UK by a Javanese team.  Although the Durham instruments are smaller than many, the tuners felt it was a particularly special set, of the highest quality metal and very well made.  Come and hear it for yourself!

And elsewhere in the UK...

The first Gamelans in the UK were mainly in Universities - as well as Durham early Javanese Gamelans came to York, Cambridge, Oxford and Balinese Gamelans were established in Belfast and at Dartington College. Other early Gamelans were housed at the Indonesian Embassy and later at the South Bank.

A huge increase in the number of Gamelans occured later when the vast potential for use in educational programmes was realised. Now most UK cities have at least one, sometimes owned by orchestras/conservatiores, sometimes by education authorities.

 

The Durham Gamelan Group  

A group has been playing in Durham since the early eighties when the instruments arrived. I joined the group in 1987 - I just turned up to watch and had a stick thrust in my hand - I was hooked from day one. I was taught by Simon Steptoe who had spent over a year in Java, and we had regular sessions with other UK experts and visiting Javanese musicians. I also spent six weeks in Java in 1991.

I started leading the group a few years later, when Simon left to run the Hallé gamelan programme in Manchester. I now give regular workshops to school groups. I also teach/have taught a number of community bands and steel bands in the region.

My other commitments meant I had to leave the group for several years and it was run by Pete and then John. I did set up an adult course which ran for a few terms but we had trouble getting sufficient numbers. I would be very happy to run this again as an evening course, so let me know if you are interested - click on 'The Course' above for more info.

Current arrangements

I have been leading the group again since October 2007.  We have had two very successful years with lots of new community members. We performed a very ambitious repertoire in summer 2009 and are looking forward to an even more exiting new year. The group is open to all - whether you are an expert western musician or have never played an instrument before - but please contact me before turning up. In fact the music is ideally suited to a mixed groups as some of the parts are pretty easy while others can be complex. Always the emphasis is on playing as a group.

What you need to know

Socks... as a mark of respect to the gamelan, it is traditionally played with outdoor footwear removed - so unless you want to bring slippers, that means in socks.

We sit on the floor to play - which can be challenging if you are not used to it. If this presents particular difficulties let me know as we will try to accommodate the needs of all.

The Gamelan is housed in Durham University Oriental Museum - a great place for a day out. See the map on their site if you don't know where it is. There are brown signs on the routes into Durham making it easy to find. It is a pleasant 20-25 mins walk from the station; there are also buses.

The group is funded by Durham University Music Department, Musicon and Durham City Council.

Hear the group playing (BIG files - only for broadband!):

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