Gamelan Sekar Jaya

If you would like to join Gamelan Sekar Jaya’s community of friends and supporters, your tax-deductible contribution will help immensely in supporting the guest residencies of some of Bali’s finest performing artists, a wide range of educational outreach programs, and the continued presentation of Balinese performing arts in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond. Click here to read the Letter from the Director, 2012

Become an ongoing supporter

Friends : $10 USD - monthlyFamily : $20 - monthlySponsor : $30 - monthlySupporter : $50 - monthlyStudent / senior / low income : $5 - monthlySustainer : $100 USD - monthlyPatron : $250 - monthly

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Call us at 510-655-1227 for more details and for additional benefits that accompany larger gifts.

Matur Suksma (THANK YOU),
Gamelan Sekar Jaya

Letter from the Director, 2012

November 6, 2012

Dear Friend of Gamelan Sekar Jaya,

Warmest greetings from Gamelan Sekar Jaya! I hope that this finds you well as we approach the end of 2012. As we begin our annual fund-raising season, I am amazed to reflect back on the year. Last year the community, members and staff of Gamelan Sekar Jaya, helped establish GSJ’s new banjar in Berkeley.  We exceeded our fund-raising goal for 2011, and the new banjar began to be a vibrant center filled with music, dance and a buzz of activities. It is a moving reminder of the power of community.
For thirty-four years, Gamelan Sekar Jaya has shared the beauty and wisdom of Balinese arts through Master Artist Residencies, performances, tours, workshops, classes, and artistic and organizational collaborations. I am writing to ask you to join us in supporting GSJ’s thriving, multi-faceted program.

Our Artist Residency Program is unlike any other in the world. These master artists guide our ensembles, create new work, convey masterpieces of the Balinese repertoire, and provide a wellspring of knowledge about Balinese arts, life and culture. This year, master musician Bapak I Made Subandi, one of Bali’s most sought after composers, leads the music program while Ni Luh Andarawati, charismatic performer and nurturing teacher leads the dancers. All of GSJ is full of anticipation as we look forward to the arrival of the legendary Ibu Ni Ketut Arini in January 2013. Ibu Arini and Pak Subandi will create Warna, a work that reflects on caste in Bali and intertwines ancient philosophy with a contemporary, deeply personal perspective.

In 2011-2012, GSJ toured twice to Southern California and premiered Bayangan Jiwa as the Opening Event of the Ethnic Dance Festival. In the summer of 2012, the dancers toured to Bali to studied with revered master artists and performed at Museum Gunarsa’s International Festival of Balinese Classical Painting.

Our on-site programming is blossoming and includes a range of classes and workshops that provide the public many opportunities to experience gamelan and dance first hand. Our senior members are becoming a powerful teaching team, and GSJ’s banjar is becoming a community gathering place. Organizations such as such as Alliance for California Traditional Arts, Bumi Sehat and others have chosen to host fund-raisers, meetings and classes in the banjar, expanding our reach to a larger community. I hope that you will have time to join us for performances, classes and banjar gatherings.

I would like to ask you to help keep GSJ thriving. Our goal is to raise $15,000 by December 31, 2012. We have received a generous matching grant from the Subak Fund to Benefit Gamelan Sekar Jaya. Your contribution is very important to GSJ, and contributions received prior to December 31, 2012 will be matched dollar for dollar by the Subak Fund up to $5,000 total.  Your support helps us continue artist residencies, expand educational programming and create work that grows from a vision of the arts as a way to gracefully cross boundaries of language, politics and history to create intercultural understanding and tolerance. Your support is deeply appreciated.

With much gratitude,

Emiko Saraswati Susilo
Director, Gamelan Sekar Jaya