by Author Lottie Brook

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Northern Gamelan Network

Looking back on a successful first phase of the Northern Gamelan Network - encouraging musical inclusion and learning, through Indonesian Bronze Percussion!

It has been a tremendous couple of years for the Northern Gamelan Network, which was established in 2015, with support from Youth Music and IVE, for the purpose of nurturing and promoting the use of Indonesian bronze percussion (known as gamelan) to develop musical, social and personal skills in young people, across the North of England.

Since then, the network has celebrated a number of achievements (many of which we outlined in our last post here). Key steps on our journey have been:

  • Convening 7 practice-sharing meetings, bringing together professionals from Music Education Hubs, universities, local authorities, regional and national arts organisations, and freelance practitioners from across York, Hull, the East Riding of Yorkshire, North Lincolnshire, North East Lincolnshire, Durham, Nottingham and Manchester.  
  • Curating 7 training days with leading UK gamelan specialists, focusing on topics spanning from traditional Javanese and Sundanese music, to contemporary composition and improvisation, with a foray into the exciting world of gamelan and tech!
  • Identifying and delivering an array of exciting partnership projects, including our collaborative COOLture Conversations programme, as part of Hull City of Culture 2017;
  • And, excitingly, creating this short film, designed to raise awareness of gamelan and the benefits and insights it offers:

 

 

 

The primary roles of the Northern Gamelan Network are, to:

  1. Provide a wider support network for individuals/organisations using gamelan in their education and outreach work;
  2. Facilitate the sharing of knowledge and good practice and providing a forum for ‘troubleshooting’;
  3. Pool resources (finances, personnel, venues, equipment) to enable appropriate CPD for strategic partners, music teachers and practitioners;
  4. Identify and, as appropriate, pursue opportunities for collaborative working across partners in the network.

For more information and to join the Northern Gamelan Network, please get in touch with Emily Crossland (NCEM Education Development Manager) on emily.crossland@ncem.co.uk or 01904 632220.