Gamelan and Subjects of Consequence

Gamelan Sulukala is a group of fifteen people in central Vermont who come together at the dead end of a dirt road in the basement of the Goddard College library, to play Indonesian music on an ornate, court gamelan made on the island of Java.  There is no harmony. Instead, each sound is part of an intricate layering of patterns. No one instrument, or musician stands alone.

Except the people in gamelan are people who very much stand alone. Writers and strawberry farmers and scientists and Renaissance music lovers…I guess what I’d say they have in common is they all seem to need to be alone a lot…which describes most central Vermonters I know. Also…they come here with a common purpose….to get lost in something that’s more than the sum of their parts…

Thanks so much to Steven Light and Kathy Light, who lead and inspire this group. Thank you Tobin for all your help on this show. And thanks also to all the gamelan players who talked with me.

Here’s a great article in Seven Days about Gamelan Sulukala.

This show is sponsored by the best restaurant in Burlington, Honey Road, at the corner of Church Street and Main Street. It is amazing. Go eat there and tell them I sent you! And click below to learn more….