Alfoxton Park - Gamelan Workshop

GAMELAN WORKSHOP

With William Barnardo

8th March 2025 11am - 5.30pm

Experience the joy of creating magical Javanese music together, whatever your level of musical ability:

Alfoxton community inherited a beautiful Javanese gamelan earlier in the year, built by master crafters near Surakarta in Java, Indonesia. It is one of a select few regularly practicing Javanese gamelans in the South West.

The workshop will be led by William Barnardo, who studied gamelan in Java and will bring years of teaching experience, supported by the Alfoxton community.

"I wish I could play Gamelan every day!" (Isla, previous workshop participant)

What is Gamelan?

Gamelan is the name of both a style of music and an instrument ensemble. It is rare in that it is both incredibly beautiful to listen to, and relatively straightforward to play. It is the traditional music of several Indonesian islands. Our gamelan is from the Javanese tradition. Watch this short documentary or this performance to get a sense of the music.

Followed by a Gamelan/Folk Fusion concert from Kêmbang, booked separately here

FACILITATION TEAM

WILLIAM BARNARDO

William is a musician, workshop leader, artist, and teacher based in the Exeter. His work is informed by socially engaged art and Central Javanese aesthetics as well as philosophical writings, such as Dewey’s work on art and education and John Cage’s expression of philosophical ideas through music. His recent work has included setting up South Devon Gamelan at Ashburton Arts Centre; organising a three day music and traditional craft festival; organising, curating, and delivering an Indonesian Culture Fair at Ashburton Arts Centre; several commissioned landscape and portrait oil paintings; as well as running Japanese and Indonesian fermentation workshops.

William spends a lot of time working with artists and non-artists to create community music and socially engaged installation art. Having graduated with first class honours from the University of York reading music he went on to study Solonese Karawitan (traditional music for gamelan, an Indonesian percussion orchestra) at Institut Seni Indonesia Surakarta, Indonesia. The difference in teaching as well as the radically different musical aesthetics he experienced has informed his practice which now, emphasises: processes; cycles; and group collaboration and learning. Completing paintings and compositions creates the necessary balance to ongoing artistic engagement with groups, charities, and traditions.

Can anyone join?

Yes! Gamelan is a group music making experience, with parts for those with both limited musical experience and those that want to go deeper into the instrument. As with all Alfoxton events, the atmosphere is welcoming.

If you have any more questions, please email events@alfoxtonpark.org

Timings, Food & TRAVEL

TIMINGS

The workshop will run 11am - 5.30pm.

FOOD

Please bring vegetarian lunch to share.

TRAVEL

The nearest railway stations are Bridgwater and Taunton. We are about 1h 15min from Bristol by car.

The 15 bus leaves Bridgwater at 16:50 during college term dates and stops at the Plough Inn in Holford. We are a 15min walk from there.

Please get in touch for further advice with public transport, or for help arranging lifts / carpools.

Make sure to put "Coach House 2, Alfoxton Park" into Google Maps. Other variations will take you to Alfoxton House nearby which is not us. Otherwise use grid reference 51.165187, -3.220080.

The What3Words for our car park are ///soup.candy.huddling

accessibility & diets

We are committed to Alfoxton being a fully accessible venue and are working hard to achieve this. However, while the renovation work continues, visitors with specific mobility or accommodation needs may experience barriers to accessing all areas of the building and land.

If you have any questions or concerns, just get in touch, and please inform us of any significant dietary or accessibility requirements before submitting your booking request.

Costs

Alfoxton Park is a charity and works on the principle of Dana or a 'gift economy'. Read more about Dana here.

A deposit of £27 will secure your place. You will be invited to make a donation to Alfoxton when you attend.

If you are an Triratna Order member and need financial support to pay a retreat deposit, you can apply for a grant from the Abhayaratna Trust.

Technology, alcohol and drugs

All of our events are alcohol and drug free. During the meditation retreats we ask you to turn off your mobile phones and other devices and not contact people outside of the retreat. For all other events and workshops we ask you to be mindful of the use of devices and stay present, in order to make the most of your time here.

Any Questions?

Check our FAQ page or send us an e-mail at events@alfoxtonpark.org.uk

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