Search - Musicians of STSI -- Bali's National Institute of the Arts :: Music of the Gamelan Gong Kebyar, vol. 1

Music of the Gamelan Gong Kebyar, vol. 1, is a thrilling collection of Bali's most popular kind of gamelan muisc. The gamelan gong kebyar is the modern concert orchestra of about 30 musicians, playing a variety of bronze metallophones, tuned gongs, drums and flutes. The style itself -- known simply as kebyar -- is relatively new, born in 1914 through the competition of two orchestras in North Bali. In reflection of those turbulent times, the music is explosive, virtuosic and colorful in character. Volume One focuses on the musicians of STSI Denpasar, Bali's National Institute of the Arts. They are led by I Wayan Berata, now in his sixties, who as a composer and teacher has played a pivotal role in the development of kebyar music over the past four decades. The players, all drawn from the senior faculty of STSI, are among Bali's finest, regarded throughout the island as a kind of musical all-star team.