Event Details
Sunday May 25
“Priangan: Abode of the Spirits"
A Concert, Workshop and Salametan nganamaan (naming ceremony)
2-4 pm — Free admission
Part of Doors Open Toronto, co-presented with St. George the Martyr Church
Evergreen Club Contemporary Gamelan with special guest Nano S.
5pm — Ticketed concert ($20 regular/$10 member + student)
Part of the soundaXis Festival, co-presented with Evergreen Club
For the Music Gallery’s contribution to the annual celebration of Toronto’s architecture heritage, Doors Open Toronto, we team up with our hosts at our home venue, St. George the Martyr Church for an afternoon and evening of Indonesian gamelan music. At 2pm, explore the live music of the gamelan degung, a type of orchestra from the Sundanese culture of West Java, performed by Toronto's community gamelan group, Gamelan Degung Sora Priangan (Andrew Timar, Director). Members of Toronto's pioneering gamelan group Evergreen Club Contemporary Gamelan (Blair Mackay, Artistic Director) will join us.
Special guest Indonesian composer and master musician Nano S. (Suratno) will conduct a Sudanese salametan ceremony featuring indigenous snacks and the naming of our community music group.
From 3 to 4 pm, there will be a free public workshop where we will teach you how to play traditional music on a real bronze gamelan Degung.
At 5 pm, Evergreen Club Contemporary Gamelan and guest singers will be joined by master musician Nano S. (Suratno) for ''Sunda Songs,” a ticketed concert. This event is co-presented by the Evergreen Club Contemporary Gamelan and the Music Gallery, and is part of the city-wide soundaXis Festival. Mr. Nano Suratno's visit to Toronto is made possible through a grant from the Canada Council for the Arts. The co-presenters wish to thank the Indonesia Consulate General, Toronto for the generous provision of Indonesian snacks.
Evergreen Club Contemporary Gamelan (est. 1983) has proven to be one of the most consistently active contemporary gamelans anywhere, having released eight CDs, commissioned over 150 works from leading composers, and toured several times nationally and internationally.
Nano Suratno (a.k.a. Nano S., b. 1944) has been internationally acclaimed for his innovative use of traditional Sundanese (from West Java, Indonesia) musical instruments and genres. A prolific composer of over 400 works, he is known for his tireless efforts to present his musical heritage in contemporary media, particularly in order to engage with the youth of his country. At the tail end of an extensive North American tour, his Toronto masterclasses and performances mark his first appearance in Canada since his concerts at Expo 1986 in Vancouver.
Gamelan Degung Sora Priangan (the Voice of the Sundanese Spirit), founded in 2007 and directed by Andrew Timar, is Toronto’s community gamelan degung group. It is an outreach program of the Evergreen Club Contemporary Gamelan.



