NAGA - New Music For Gamelan

"Naga is a collection of outstandingly imaginative pieces, performed with impressive skill and panache by our two gamelan ensembles" says album producer Jack Body.

For three-­weeks of July 2013, the New Zealand School of Music's two gamelan ensembles (the Javanese Padhang Moncar and the Balinese Taniwha Jaya) toured six Indonesian cities. Their fourteen performances included a concert at the Yogyakarta International Gamelan Festival, as well as joint concerts in schools and universities such as Gajah Mada University, Yogyakarta, and Brawijaya University in Malang.

This was the fourth tour for Padhang Moncar and the second for Taniwha Jaya (their first in Bali in a joint concert with three other Balinese groups). The core repertoire comprised twelve new compositions created especially for this tour by composers from within both groups. Gamelan Padhang Moncar is a Central Javanese-­style gamelan. In 1980, the Indonesian Embassy presented a pelog-­mode set of instruments on permanent loan to the Victoria University of Wellington School of Music. A complementary slendro set was later purchased by the university, thus creating a complete pelog-­slendro gamelan.

"Contrary to traditional Javanese use," says ensemble manager Jack Body, "we use the name Padhang Moncar to denote our group of musicians and to tour under this name."

Director: Budi Putra
Manager: Jack Body

Gamelan Taniwha Jaya is a Balinese gong keybar gamelan. Commissioned by Gareth Farr in 2003, the set was made by Pak Rantes in Denpasar. Again, the name Taniwha Jaya is used to denote the group of musicians who perform within this particular gamelan ensemble.

Director: Gareth Farr