Southbank Centre Gamelan - Kyai Lebdhajiwa

Art Center · London, United Kingdom

About Southbank Centre Gamelan - Kyai Lebdhajiwa

Inside the Royal Festival Hall at London's Southbank Centre sits an unusually large Javanese gamelan, a full bronze orchestra of gongs, metallophones, and drums cast in 1973 by the master gamelan maker Ki Trimantawiguna in Yogyakarta, Central Java. The instrument was presented as a formal gift from the people of Indonesia to the people of Great Britain and arrived at the Southbank on 4 December 1987. Following Javanese tradition, in which an important gamelan is given its own name, this set was christened Kyai Lebdhajiwa, meaning roughly the Venerable Spirit of Perfection, and it has remained in continuous use at the venue ever since.

The Southbank Centre now runs regular gamelan classes for both adults and children as part of its ongoing music education programme, drawing on a roster of tutors who are themselves members of the Southbank Gamelan Players, the resident performing ensemble built around the instrument. Those players are increasingly called on for work elsewhere in the UK and across Europe, both performing with established groups and helping develop education projects around newly commissioned gamelan sets in other cities. Separate from the regular class programme, the Southbank Centre also offers bespoke two-hour gamelan workshops for schools and other groups of up to twenty participants, covering composing, performing, and listening under the guidance of an expert tutor, and tailored to the group's specific needs, whether a GCSE music class or a corporate away-day.

The gamelan and its associated programming are housed at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX, on the south bank of the Thames in central London. Bookings and general enquiries about gamelan events, classes, and workshops can be made by phone on 020 7921 0767, by email at [email protected], or through the dedicated programme page at southbankcentre.co.uk/gamelan. As the only entry of its kind currently catalogued in the United Kingdom, this listing represents Nusba's first UK Art Center record, distinct from the restaurant and diplomatic listings already covering London.

Address

Contact

• Phone: 020 7921 0767
• Website: https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/gamelan

Category

Indonesian Art Center in United Kingdom

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