Sumunar invites you to experience the rich sounds, stories and traditions of Indonesia! Whether you come to a performance, take a class, join a performing ensemble, or volunteer, we look forward to seeing you!
Join us for an introduction to Javanese gamelan. No previous musical experience is necessary. If you can count to seven, you can have an enjoyable group experience making music in an ancient but still vital musical genre. And you'll learn lots about the fascinating culture and history of Java.
The instructor is Joko Sutrisno, an accomplished and renown performer and teacher. Joko has taught all ages, from Kindergarten to Graduate Students how to play the gamelan.
Join Sumunar for an informal evening of longer, meditative pieces for
Javanese gamelan. Enjoy the rich textures of our gamelan while you
relax and enjoy a respite from the busy world.
The Sumunar Gamelan Ensemble, directed by Joko Sutrisno, will play traditional Javanese gendhing in an open and informal house concert.
All are welcome. Come when you can and stay as long as you like.
Bring your favorite pillow or your favorite book. Tea will be served.
2011 was outstanding for Sumunar collaborations. Here are highlights:
Spring: An Indonesian Culture Festival at Coffman Union, University of Minnesota
Collaborators: PERMIAS (Indonesian Students Association), the Greater Metro Indonesia Community, and Sumunar
Grant Funding: Asian Pacific Endowment, St. Paul Foundation
Summer: “Laughing Waters”—a gamelan/dance theater piece commissioned for MOSAIC 2011
Collaborators: Green T Dance Company and Sumunar Gamelan Ensemble
Grant Funding: Minneapolis MOSAIC Festival
Fall: “Three Brothers, One Blessing”—Javanese shadow puppet play
Collaborators: Sumunar Gamelan & Dance Ensemble and Heart of the Beast Theatre
Grant Funding: Asian Pacific Endowment, St. Paul Foundation
And once again, it was a big year for school residencies, with thousands of students participating first hand in playing gamelan music and performing Indonesian dance, plus learning a LOT about Indonesia and its culture. Teachers, administrators and students are highly enthusiastic about these experiences—Indonesian arts and culture become personal encounters!
Funding: Minnesota State Arts Board, Metropolitan Regional Arts Council,
COMPAS, Asian Pacific Endowment, and the individual schools.
ALL of these activities were also made possible through contributions from our supportive friends! We extend our heartfelt gratitudeto all who assisted our work in 2011. The word “Sumunar” means a glowing, brilliant light, radiant and beautiful, illuminating and warming the soul. Dedicated to teaching, performing and sharing the arts and culture of Indonesia, the Sumunar organization invites YOU to join us in extending this light into 2012 through a year-end contribution (note Paypal button on this page; www.GiveMN.org is another option). All contributions are tax deductible; you will receive an acknowledgement of your gift for tax purposes.
Happy Holidays!!
Here's a new, short video that summarizes Sumunar's activities.
Sumunar performed at Caponi Art Park in Eagan, MN on Sunday, July 24. The park is a wonderful outdoor venue in a beautifully landscaped, 60-acre sculpture garden with many delightful works of art displayed in a charming landscape. The Theater in the Woods features a circular stage in the middle of a natural amphitheater surrounded by majestic oaks and grassy slopes. Families enjoyed picnic suppers and children rolled down the hills or danced along with a wonderful evening of Indonesian music and dance.
A production crew from Community Access Cable Channel 15 was present to record the concert. Watch for their broadcast in Roseville, Bloomington and Eagan.
Meanwhile, here's a video of Caping dance from the concert. Try clicking on the full screen icon for a better view.
Have you ever wished you could fly? Google Earth is a wonderful computer program that allows you to explore remote areas that you’d never visit in person. You can fly (virtually) across the world and zoom it to see things in fantastic detail. Visit http://www.google.com/earth/index.html to download the free desktop software. Perhaps the best place to start is to type in your own home address into the “fly to” box. You’ll be amazed at how much detail you can see.
Google provides a sightseeing tour when you first open the program to show you some examples of the power of their system. Not everyplace in the world has equally high resolution satellite images. Not surprisingly, Google provides exquisite detail of their own headquarters in California. You can almost read the license plates on the cars in the parking lot. You might also enjoy exploring the Grand Canyon in Arizona and the Forbidden City in Beijing, as well as some of the other places they’ve identified.
Google Earth is a good way to explore Indonesia and to learn about environmental issues there. For example, the rapid expansion of oil palm plantations can be vividly seen in G.E. images.
This unique cross-cultural collaboration brought together Japanese Nihon Buyoh, a dance style seen in kabuki theater, and Indonesian gamelan music. The original performance piece is entitled “Laughing Waters.” The sound and sight of flowing water is connected with both artistic traditions involved, and is also an important symbol for the Twin Cities and Minnesota. The commissioned piece was performed on the Pantages Theater stage at the Minneapolis MOSAIC celebration on Saturday, June 4, 2011 (time TBA). For more information, see www.greentproductions.org.
Sumunar has had the good fortune to receive several grants this year for the purpose of funding school residencies; in these activities, students become involved in gamelan music making and in Indonesian dance, with concomitant introduction to Indonesian culture. Funding sources include the following:
Arts Access and Arts Learning activities are made possible, in part, by grants provided by the Minnesota State Arts Board, through an appropriation by the Minnesota state legislature from the Minnesota arts and culture fund, with money from the vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4, 2008.
United Arts Fund, a program of COMPAS (School Arts grant), including contributions from hundreds of employees at companies throughout Minnesota
Metropolitan Regional Arts Council Arts Learning grant.
This activity is funded, in part,the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund as appropriated by the Minnesota State Legislature with money from the vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4, 2008.
In July, 2010, Sumunar members did a two-week tour of central and western Java visiting four major cities: Jakarta, Bandung, Surakarta, and Yogyakarta. The group gave about a dozen performances at universities, theaters, civic centers, and on national public radio.
The study tour was the fulfillment of a long-time dream for the Sumunar organization. The objectives for the project were the following:
1. To experience gamelan and dance performance in its Indonesian environment to better understand and appreciate it both artistically and culturally.
2. To learn from and collaborate with various Indonesian performing groups through performance exchanges, observations and discussions.
3. To make connections that will lead to ongoing collaborative projects, both in Indonesia and in the United States.
The performance repertoire the Sumunar Ensemble took to Indonesia included arrangements of American song material that could be performed in collaboration with Indonesian groups. In these pieces--including “Wondrous Love,” “Foundation,”“Holy Manna,” and “Shady Grove,”the language, melodies, and vocal style are clearly Western, while the tuning, instrumentation, and overall musical sound are distinctly Indonesian. The combination of cultural elements is soon clear to listeners.
Sumunar Gamelan and Dance Ensemble: Summer term runs from July 21 to August 28 (exceptions: see Classes Page).
Community Classes:
Summer term runs from July 6 to August 31 (exceptions: see Classes Page).
All classes and rehearsals take place at UTEC Center located at 1313 5th Street SE, Minneapolis.
Please Note: Registration is for full term. Fees are not prorated by the number of sessions attended.
Take Two and Save!!! Students who register in two classes or ensembles get 20% off the less expensive fee. Please contact Sumunar Registrar Susannah Smith (smith@hist.umn.edu) for more information. For more information please click on the Classes section or call 612-729-6737
Sumunar Gamelan Ensemble's latest album,
Sayuk: Together in Harmony
is available to purchase online now! New and traditional compositions showcase both the versatility of the ensemble and the rich tones of the instruments used for the recording, which are part of the collection of the National Music Museum in Vermillion, SD.
Sumunar Gamelan Ensemble's latest album, 
