This class will be led by GSJ 2026 Local Jegog Director, Pak Gede Oka. Students will be introduced to jegog music and technique, melody & kotekan parts for the most often played pieces in GSJ's repertoire.
WEDNESDAYS 6:15-7:15PM
5-week series: Oct 21, 28, Nov 4, 11, 18 (Wednesdays)
All classes are on a sliding scale $15-30 per class or $75-150 for the whole series.
Full series registration is encouraged for consistency and optimal student experience. Drop-ins are always welcome too! This class is free for GSJ contributing members.
If you are in need of financial assistance, email education@gsj.org to inquire about work exchange.
Please use the link below to register and pay. If you need to pay with cash or check you can do so in person at the banjar (studio).
When choosing your sliding scale rate, please keep in mind that GSJ depends on the generosity of its community to support high caliber artists and programming. Thank you!
About the Teacher
I Gede Oka Artha Negara is the founder and director of Gamelan Artha Negara in Santa Cruz, California. He is an accomplished composer, musician, choreographer and dancer from Bali, Indonesia. From 1992-Present he was the Associate Artistic Director and a leading performer in Gamelan Jegog Suar Agung in Bali acknowledged as one of the finest and most influential Jegog ensembles in Bali.
Gede Oka has taught and performed internationally. Some of his career highlights have been leading Jegog Suar Agung to prominent festivals throughout Indonesia and abroad such as the International Gamelan Festival in Amsterdam, Holland (2007). He performed with Suar Agung for the opening of the 2008 World Cup in France, has toured in Japan many times, and danced as an independent artist in Singapore and Thailand. He has invited to the United States twice, first in 2010 as a guest musical director with Gamelan Sekar Jaya in Oakland, CA and then in 2011 to perform with Song of Dharma for the opening of the Bali Exhibit at San Francisco's Asian Art Museum.
He began studying Balinese performing arts as a child in West Bali in the village of Sangkar Agung, Negara, under the tutelage of his father I Ketut Suwentra, a renowned artist and the founder and director of Suar Agung. He continued his studies at ISI (Bali's National Academy of the Arts) and got his Master of Arts at UCSC (University California Santa Cruz) where he specialized in composition and bamboo music. Gede considers it his mission to spread appreciation and knowledge of Gamelan music, dance, and culture around the globe.
