Grebel Gamelan will Inspire Mennonite Church Service

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Grebel Gamelan Ensemble
On Sunday, Feb. 2, at 11:00 AM,  the Grebel Gamelan will be playing at Rockway Mennonite Church, 32 Weber Street West in Kitchener. This is a Balinese gamelan directed by UW/Grebel Ethnomusicology professor Maisie Sum and professional Balinese gamelan player Dewa Made Suparta, with Grebel players.

A meditation by Carol Ann Weaver, "Gamelan as Gospel – Creating Communities of Peace," traces roots of community and communal living from the First Century via the Anabaptists, up to the present, connecting it to music of the gamelan. We will also sing as a congregation with the gamelan.

Genuine gamelan playing in Southern Ontario is hard to come by, and when heard in its real essence, it can become a model for interactive human activity within a community.  Maisie Sum comments that “in Bali the idea of community and spirit of interaction is highly valued, and this extends to and is reflected in their music-making. The ultimate goal of an ensemble is to achieve a unified musical expression. The notion of interlocking musical parts [within gamelan music] is a way to share work, which reinforces and reflects the practice of mutual help so important to community life.”

All are welcome.

Get a taste of Grebel's Gamelan ensemble with this footage from their 2013 end of term concert.

Gamelan musician