Gamelan at Cornell forms a juncture between the Department of Music and the renowned Southeast Asia Program. Heard on campus since the early years of the program’s Cornell Modern Indonesia Project—Benedict Anderson was a central figure in performances at the time—gamelan’s place at Cornell was secured with the founding in 1972 of the Cornell Gamelan Ensemble by then-graduate student Martin F. Hatch ’80. As the department’s first ethnomusicologist, Hatch led the ensemble until his retirement. Since 2008, it has been directed by Christopher J. Miller.

Over the years, the ensemble has explored different regional traditions of gamelan under the guidance of guest instructors, including Sundanese gamelan salendro with Endo Suanda and Balinese gamelan angklung with I Nyoman Suadin and PhD student Bethany Collier ’07. Since 2008, it has returned to its original focus on the Central Javanese style. In addition to weekly rehearsals and end-of-semester performances, the ensemble frequently engages in special projects with Javanese guest artists. These include a concert with Peni Candra Rini and Danis Sugiyanto; a klenengan with Wakidi Dwidjomartono, I.M. Harjito, and Heni Savitri; performances of wayang (shadow puppet theater) with Sumarsam, Darsono Hadiraharjo, and Gusti Sudarta; and of dance with Danang Pamungkas.

In addition to playing in the ensemble, students engage with gamelan through the course “Gamelan in Indonesian History and Cultures,” which presents a systematic introduction to playing alongside a seminar that explores the full range of music in Indonesia. Read more about course offerings.

Indonesian music more broadly was the subject of a 2018 state-of-the-field conference, organized by Christopher J. Miller and his colleague Andrew McGraw (University of Richmond) for the Cornell Modern Indonesia Project. Out of the conference came the book Sounding Out the State of Indonesian Music (Cornell University Press).

The instruments are also used for various forms of contemporary music. This includes: two programs of new works by students in Cornell’s DMA composition program for gamelan and strings in collaboration with Momenta Quartet; the course “Collaborative Creativity” with guest instructor Gondrong Gunarto; and the activities of the band Twin Court.

Cornell’s instruments were brought to the United States in 1964 for the New York World’s Fair, and to Cornell in 1975. Previously on long-term loan from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, ownership was transferred to the Department of Music in 2021. Read more about the instruments.

For more on the history of gamelan at Cornell, see Martin F. Hatch, “Tuning to. . . Gamelan at Cornell,” in the fall 2008 Southeast Asia Program Bulletin.