Baleganjur short-course with Ewa from Gamelan DanAnda (incl Master Classes with Yande King's)

Get ready for a crash course in the complex interlocking rhythms of Balinese gamelan led by Ewa Wisanjaka from Gamelan DanAnda through the Baleganjur short-course running from 22 January until 26 February, with an optional (but very much encouraged) performance at the Sydney Road Street Party on Sunday 2 March 2025.

Classes will run from 7-9pm at the Gamelan DanAnda studio at 441 St Georges road, Thornbury.

The two final classes on 19, and 26 February will be led by renowned virtuoso musician, composer and educator Yande King's (Bali, Indonesia).

Participants will be introduced to the rhythms of the Baleganjur processional ensemble through weekly two hour workshops. This will include demonstrations of individual parts and hands-on experience of performing them together.

The short-course is accessible, challenging and fun (!) to people with any level of musical practice, whether you are a complete musical beginner, or a professional drummer/percussionist. Children under 18 are welcome, but should be accompanied by a parent (and please join in and learn too!).

All parts will be taught by ear, no experience reading music is required. 

Entry into the class is included in the Gamelan DanAnda monthly membership. More details about that here.

I Dewa Gde Gandiva Wisanjaka (Ewa) is a Balinese musician and dancer based in Melbourne. He began his study of gamelan at 12 years old in Bali, and from high school he joined the Calon Arang performance with Sanggar Seni Mas Putra Baru which based in Tabanan, Bali. He has performed with Gamelan DanAnda at the National Folk Festival, the Melbourne Recital Centre, the Geelong Arts Centre, Nongkrong Festival, and many more, and he appears on the forthcoming album Anglayang by Gamelan DanAnda x Firetail.

Pande Gde Eka Mardiana, S.Sn., M.Sn. (Yande King's) is a master Balinese musician, virtuoso on the kendang (Balinese drum), lecturer, and chair of Sanggar Taman Sari Budaya.

Given his renown, he is sought after as a judge at competitions, and is on the faculty at the Hindu University of Indonesia.

Yande has travelled extensively in Indonesia, and to Asia, Europe, USA and Australia to present Balinese music in both traditional and modern forms. Notably, he co-created Saudara Sound System with Gamelan DanAnda, Joelistics, Komang, Ria Soemardjo and more and performed at OzAsia Festival 2023 and Brunswick Music Festival 2024.

Yande comes from a long line of master musicians and he and his family are part of community of respected professional artists in Bali.

Gamelan DanAnda (GDA) is a Balinese gamelan percussion orchestra based in Darebin, Naarm. They mostly perform in the traditional Gong Kebyar style, which features shimmering cascades of metallic sound, virtuosic rhythms and breathtaking crescendos. 

GDA regularly perform at Australia’s leading festivals including OzAsia Festival, Brunswick Music Festival, AsiaTOPA, the National Folk Festival, Port Fairy Folk Festival and more. Recently they have been taking this music to new spaces and audiences with collaborations with Oz hip-hop legend Joelistics, Balinese-Australian neo-soul singer/producer Komang, and electro-jazz-fusion band Firetail. 

GDA have appeared live on Sunrise on Channel 7, have been interviewed and performed on The Music Show on ABC Radio National, and have appeared multiple times on Melbourne’s community radio stations to perform and be interviewed.

Modelled on a Balinese organisation style known as a Sanggar and with a community orchestra at their core, beginners and experienced players, students and professional performers come together to create a dynamic network of musical ensembles under one roof. Head down to their studio in Thornbury to give it a shot sometime. 

“A new–and thoroughly beguiling–musical language”, “wooden hammers dancing in perfect unison or forging intricate, interlocking patterns on shimmering metallophones, bamboo xylophones, gongs and double-headed drums”. The Age. 

“mind-boggling polyrhythmic avalanche of shifting pulses…This was a music fusion like no other…I cannot recommend this show highly enough.” BroadwayWorld review of Saudara Sound System at OzAsia Festival.