Gamelan Merdu Kumala

Gamelan Merdu Kumala is an American gamelan, a community, and a grassroots organization based in Tujunga California. Founded in 2014 by the artistic director, Hirotaka Inuzuka, this independent ensemble provides classes, workshops, and performances in order to bring musical fulfillment to individuals and transfigure that energy outward to communities to create a greater shared experience and unity. Gamelan Merdu Kumala is:

• a pursuit of higher artistry and a path to find spiritual oneness with the music and individual expression,

• a community cultivating a safe environment for learning and group expression, and

• a bridge between its musical activities and surrounding environment, creating sounds that are authentic to Southern California.

The foundation of Gamelan Merdu Kumala is to be individually bound to and content with the music we learn and perform. Our effort of learning, creating, and performing at a high level will bring greater meaning and passion to our sound. Gamelan Merdu Kumala pursues technical proficiency and develops musical feeling that’s genuine to us, which enables us to produce music that is beautiful yet thrilling.

Most opportunities for learning gamelan are still limited to higher education, and many youth, especially those who are underprivileged, have no chance of learning about this beautiful art form. GMK’s future program will include reaching out to those children and adults providing a safe environment for learning about the tradition of Balinese gamelan. This is one possible way to diversify representations of Asian cultures and combat systemic biases against them.

Seeds of gamelan had been planted in the United States by Balinese master teachers over the past centuries and gamelan programs have been flourishing throughout the country. As gamelan becomes part of our American identity at individual levels, it also feels natural that some gamelan grows indigenously by adopting local culture and its social functions. Some of the songs we learned from Balinese teachers are meant to be played at a certain place, time, and situation, especially in the Balinese-Hindu ceremonies. In the United States, the right context for those repertoires are rare and most of gamelan music here is performed as concert music. While remaining true to Balinese tradition of music making, GMK aims to create music that fits and accompanies our life in Southern California which includes the process for finding and building ourselves a new identity as American art.