NZSM Supporting Oxfam

NZSM supporting Oxfam

The New Zealand School of Music is raising awareness and money for Oxfam with an Oxjam concert of new compositions for gamelan and wind instruments.

Recently returned from a highly successful appearance at the Yogyakarta Gamelan Festival in Indonesia, Gamelan Padhang Moncar and Gamelan Taniwha Jaya are keen for local audiences to hear these bold new works by Gareth Farr, Jack Body, Wayan Yudane and other local composers.

Oxjam is a NZ-wide festival of music events in October - raising awareness and money for Oxfam's work all over the world. "We had planned to hold a concert of our festival repertoire in October anyway, but when we found out that there was to be a month-long fund-raising party for Oxfam, we felt that this was a perfect opportunity to raise money for charity as well," says Associate Professor Jack Body, whose work will feature.

A gamelan is an ensemble of Indonesian percussion instruments. The gamelan of Java tends to be quieter and more refined, while Balinese gamelan is more bright and forceful.

The concert features a wide variety of new compositions ranging from a work by Javanese director Budi Putra in a traditional Indonesian idiom, through to Jack Body's toe-tapping "Polish Dances" for two clarinets, baritone saxophone and Javanese gamelan.

Gareth Farr's work features an equally great challenge, combining his Balinese gamelan with the Javanese gamelan to present evocative music for the traditional Māori story of "Rona and the Moon". Farr's work earlier this year for Balinese gamelan with Wayan Yudane and others for Capital E was widely applauded.

The concert is on Friday 19 October, 6pm at the Adam Concert Room at the New Zealand School of Music, Victoria University. Entry is by donation with the proceeds collected by Oxfam.

Since 2005, Victoria University and Massey University have been operating a joint New Zealand School of Music (NZSM), a centre of musical excellence. The NZSM website is www.nzsm.ac.nz

ENDS

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