Caravan World Rhythms presents, in collaboration with Gamelan Gita Asmara, presents two days of shimmering and mesmerizing music and dance from Bali and beyond! The evening will be co-directed by Balinese artist-in-residence Putu Swaryandana, and joined by acclaimed Balinese dancer Shoko Yamamuro. Music groups “Only a Visitor” and Zhambai Trio will open the show each day.
TICKETS: General admission ($15-$30); VIP RESERVED SEATS ($45) in first two rows.
Buy Tickets to BOTH SHOWS, and receive a 20% discount!
SCHEDULE:
May 13, 8pm Show / 7pm Doors. Opening music group is “Only a Visitor” (see bio below and video)
May 14, 2pm show / 1:30 Doors. Opening music group is “Zhambai Trio” (see bio below and video)
FREE TALK / WORKSHOP on Balinese Music.
May 14, 12:30pm – 1:15pm
Led by Professor Michael Tenzer and members of Gamelan Gita Asmara, learn about traditional Balinese Music, and have a chance to try out some of the instruments. ALL AGES!
LIMITED CAPACITY. PLEASE REGISTER HERE IN ADVANCE: https://www.vtixonline.com/caravan-world-rhythms/3351/
ABOUT GAMELAN GITA ASMARA
Gamelan Gita Asmara is a vibrant Vancouver-based ensemble that performs traditional and contemporary Balinese music on a uniquely tuned set of instruments made up of bronze metallophones, gongs, cymbals, drums, and bamboo flutes. The group was founded by composer and ethnomusicologist Michael Tenzer in 1996. It includes over twenty musicians dedicated to the arts of Bali and is directed by Balinese artist-in-residence Putu Swaryandana. For this performance the ensemble will be joined by acclaimed Balinese dancer Shoko Yamamuro.
From shimmering melodies to thunderously driving rhythms, the Balinese gamelan is widely celebrated for the beauty and complexity of its interlocking musical patterns. The instruments are arranged in pairs tuned slightly apart, creating an acoustical ‘beating’ phenomenon that is an integral part of its characteristic sound. In 2021, gamelan was inscribed onto the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
Gamelan Gita Asmara (“Gamelan of the Song of Love”) prepares this music in the traditional manner of memorization and intensive rehearsal over many months. This performance combines tradition and innovation by featuring classic works such as Jagul, alongside brand-new works including Nayakara. Full of surprising turns and mind-bending syncopations, this new piece was written for the ensemble by co-director Putu Swaryandana—2022 recipient of UBC’s Andrew Fellowship in Creative and Performing Arts, and member of the celebrated Balinese gamelan collective Çudamani. A leading Balinese dancer praised by The Boston Globe for her remarkable agility, Shoko Yamamuro regularly performs with California-based Gamelan Sekar Jaya and joins the ensemble to perform Amurwa Bhumi, a masked dance portraying a refined king.
ABOUT “ONLY A VISITOR” (playing March 13)
Described as “Bjork’s light-footed nymph child,” (Beatroute) Vancouver quintet Only A Visitor brings a
precise and buoyant live energy to song-crafting with their “kaleidoscopic compositions” (Dusted
Magazine.) Fusing together avant-pop, jazz, classical and DIY influences and substituting guitar with
three part harmonies that “display a delightful innovation” (HuffPost,) they have released three albums
to date and have recently signed to Mint Records for their fourth release Decay. Since forming in 2015,
they have appeared at the Montreal, Halifax, Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver Jazz Festivals and the
Vancouver Island Music Festival, among others, and have toured Canada and internationally. With
drummer Kevin Romain, bassist Jeff Gammon, and vocalists Emma Postl and Celina Kurz, classically
trained but DIY nurtured songwriter and arranger Robyn Jacob wraps gently asymmetrical sonic tendrils around pop skeletons.
WEBSITE: https://www.onlyavisitor.com/
ABOUT ZHAMBAI TRIO (playing March 14)
Zhambai Trio formed in early 2010 from the musical inspiration of Kurai Mubaiwa (mbira, vocals) and Curtis Andrews (mbira, vocals) and currently features Ghanaian master musician Kofi Gbolonyo (percussion, vocals). The uplifting sound of the mbira and its interlocking melodies combined with the lilting quality of the vocal harmonies are at once stimulating and relaxing. Zhambai Trio has performed at numerous venues in Canada to thrilled and enthusiastic audiences.
“Zhambai” means scream in the Zimbabwean Shona language. The group’s central instrument, the mbira, is a melodic 25 key Zimbabwean lamellaphone that in Shona mythology is believed to connect the living with the spirit world of the ancestors. It has been used for centuries in Zimbabwe to fulfill spiritual needs and for healing. In the past 3 decades it has gone world-wide and can be found in numerous new environments ranging from pop bands to movie soundtracks to world music fusion ensembles. The context may change but the effect of the instrument remains.
Website: www.zhambai.weebly.com