Venerable Showers of Beauty performance set

Posted February 18, 2006

(Portland, Ore.)— Twenty-five years ago, Lewis & Clark College established the Venerable Showers of Beauty Javanese Gamelan, Oregon’s first Javanese orchestra. Gamelan music is a communal art form rooted in traditional Indonesian performance arts. The core of the orchestra, or gamelan, consists of a group of bronze percussion instruments that are forged and tuned together. The ensemble is featured in a performance on Saturday, Feb. 25, at 8 p.m. in Agnes Flanagan Chapel at Lewis & Clark. Tickets are available at the door.

In addition to gamelan, a popular entertainment in Java is the nighttime shadow play, or wayang kulit. Wayang was adopted for the Hindu stories of the Ramayana and Mahabarata, which form the basis of Javanese dance and theater. During a wayang, the musicians take their cues from the puppeteer, who controls the gamelan throughout the performance. Musicians must respond quickly to riddles or jokes that the puppeteer inserts into the story.

The Javanese Gamelan and shadow puppet master Midiyanto S. Putro, past artist in residence at Lewis & Clark, join forces for this performance. A native of central Java, Indonesia, Putro has taught gamelan and performed throughout the United States and around the world. Rasito Purwopangrawit, a composer and recording artist from Java, who teaches at Surakarta and Banyumas, Indonesia, and the University of Texas at Austin, will provide drumming.

Lewis & Clark is located at 0615 S.W. Palatine Hill Road. Parking is free on campus. Tickets are free to members of the Lewis & Clark community. General admission tickets are $10 at the door, $5 for children under the age of 12. For more information, call 503-768-7461 or online.

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For more information, please contact:
Tania Thompson
Senior Communications Officer
503-768-7960
taniat@lclark.edu