Gamelan at Cornell forms a juncture between the music department 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. Alongside the study and performance of traditional repertoire, the ensemble has supported the use of the instruments for contemporary composition and improvisation, including two programs of new works by graduate students for gamelan and strings in collaboration with Momenta Quartet. Other notable projects include performances of wayang (shadow puppet theater) and dance with guest artists such as Sumarsam ’92, Danang Pamungkas, Darsono Hadiraharjo, and Gusti Sudarta.

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.

In addition to ensemble activities, the instruments are used for the introductory course “Gamelan in Indonesian History and Cultures.” Read more about course offerings.

For more on the history of gamelan at Cornell, see Martin F. Hatch, “Tuning to. . . Gamelan at Cornell,”  Fall Bulletin of the Southeast Asia Program, Cornell University, 2008, 6-11.