Public Invited to Free Balinese Gamelan Performance

Music 116: A Survey of World Music explores indigenous music cultures from around the world and helps students learn to to distinguish various musical styles and instrumentation.

“To really understand music, you need to experience it in many levels, not just read about it,” said Professor Alexander Khalil, an ethnomusicologist, cognitive scientist and musician. “Music is something you learn practically. A lot of what students learn today is implicit; in music, you need to learn it through experience or practice.”

Students in the course are part of a guided musical experience, led by Dr. Khalil, who brings in instruments and scientific equipment to analyze the different aspects of music. The course also has guest musicians who play with Dr. Khalil, which makes the learning experience more cohesive and gives students a window to other cultures.

As part of the course, students are able to attend a series of lecture-concerts featuring various musicians. The first, “A Concert of Japanese Traditional Music” featured Sensei Yuki Easter on the koto and Dr. Alexander Khalil on the shakuhachi.

The next lecture-concert, “The Balinese Gamelan Gendér Wayang: Music of the Balinese Shadow Theatre,” will feature Dr. Khalil and guest artist Putu Hiranmayena. Hiranmayena is an Indonesian artist scholar and is the son of renowned Balinese gamelan musician Bapak I Made Lasmawa. He has been performing gamelan music and dance since the age of three and is a graduate student at UC San Diego studying integrative studies.

The event will be held November 21 at 1 p.m. in the MiraCosta College Concert Hall, 1 Barnard Drive, Oceanside. This event is open to the public and admission is free.

MUS 116: World Music will also be offered in spring 2015, online and as a late-start class at the Oceanside Campus every Friday starting February 20, 2015. To apply and enroll, visit www.miracosta.edu/fall or call 760.795.6620.