 MEDIA RELEASE |
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MEDIA RELEASE |
|
February 1, 2001
For Immediate Release
Evergreen Gamelan Group comes to Banff
This Friday, Music & Sound presents a rare opportunity to hear traditional Indonesian music by some of the finest Gamelan musicians in Canada. The Evergreen Club Contemporary Gamelan Ensemble from Toronto perform with Burhan Sukarma, master suling player, in the Margaret Greenham Theatre on February 9 at 7:30 pm.
Evergreen Club Contemporary Gamelan Ensemble
is an eight member ensemble which performs on a collection of bronze and wooden instruments that are collectively known as a Gamelan. It is the traditional instrumental ensemble of the Indonesian archipelago and has been a fundamental part of Indonesian musical life for centuries. Originating from the city of Bandung in the Sundanese region of Java, the Degung style Gamelan played by Evergreen Club uses a characteristic "pelog" scale consisting of five notes.Formed in 1983, the Evergreen Club is Canada's first performing Gamelan and is the only ensemble of its kind in Canada dedicated to the commissioning and performance of Canadian contemporary music. There is very little contemporary music written for Gamelan of any kind and repertoire for Evergreen Club's particular style of Sundanese gamelan degung is virtually non-existent. In the last seven years alone Evergreen Club has commissioned twenty-seven new works with another four compositions currently being written for upcoming Evergreen Club concert seasons.
The Evergreen Club has been well received on Canadian, European, and Asian tours and been featured several times on CBC radio and television and has also been featured on CBC TV’s The Journal and Sunday Arts Magazine. At present, Evergreen Club has released three CDs; The Road to Ubud (1999), Palace (1996) and North of Java (1987).
The Evergreen Club will be performing with Burhan Sukarma, the foremost virtuoso on the suling bamboo flute. Burhan has expanded the suling’s role as a solo instrument. His ability to make his simple instrument produce soulful, expressive, melodic lines that speak across cultural boundaries has earned him an international reputation. Burhan currently records for MTR and Jugala recording companies in Indonesia and Sakti Records in the US. Since 1987, he has taught at the University of Washington, San Jose State University, UC Santa Cruz, and UC Berkeley.
For more information or to reserve your tickets, please call The Banff Centre Box Office at 762-6301. Friday evening concerts are $15 for adults and $10 for seniors/students. Sundays and noon-hour concerts are pay-what-you-can.
Photo available