Gamelan Kembang Telang features a quartet of musicians (Robyn Jacob, George Rahi, Ryan Swaryandana, Kaia Stoesz) performing traditional and contemporary Balinese gamelan music. The ensemble's unique instruments are associated with the instrumental music used to accompany Wayang Kulit, the art of Indonesian shadow puppetry. Recently, the popularity of this genre has grown far beyond its origins in the shadow theatre and is now a focal point for some of the most compact and innovative forms of Balinese gamelan. The group's repertoire features contemporary works by Ryan Swaryandana and I Made Subandi which showcase bold new directions in techniques and styles. The ensemble's name refers to the blossoming of the blue telang flower, a vibrant and medicinal plant which adorned the gamelan studio of I Made Subandi, the group’s late mentor.
We're grateful to collaborate and produce on the shared, stolen, unceded, ancestral and traditional territories of Penelakut, Lamalcha, Hwitslum and other Hul’qumi’num speaking peoples, as well as the ceded territories of Tsawwassen First Nation, on what is now known as Galiano Island, British Columbia. We recognize the complex impacts that hosting settlers and non-settlers has on the Indigenous land and peoples of this area, and we aim to be responsible and accountable for these impacts and our footprint—whether cultural, environmental or social.
We acknowledge the generous support of our partners and funders:
