Based in Denver, Colorado, USA, Gamelan Tunas Mekar is a community ensemble under the direction of Balinese composer and Artist-in-Residence I Made Lasmawan.
Tunas Mekar presents the traditional and new music for Balinese gamelan at music festivals, schools, private events, local venues, specially produced concerts, and by special invitation both internationally and nationally.
Modeled after typical village groups found throughout Bali, and learning by traditional methods, this community ensemble provides American audiences the rare opportunity to experience one of the world’s most beautiful and sophisticated performing arts.
Tunas Mekar, Inc. is a State of Colorado 501(c)(3) nonprofit, all-volunteer, community organization which has a mission to: learn, experience, and perform the cultural traditions and arts of Bali, Indonesia and offer community engagement through education.
The objectives established by Tunas Mekar as it relates to our mission include:
● to maintain a community ensemble which will learn and perform the arts of Bali
● to foster inclusive participation in the organization for people of all backgrounds and abilities
● to encourage social interactions modeled on those in Bali
● to demonstrate the value of tradition and culture as an outreach organization to the
community
● to collaborate with individuals and cultural organizations toward propagating the diversity of
the world’s arts and cultures
● to educate youth in Balinese arts
● to create and perform new art based on a knowledge of the traditional and new arts of Bali
● to foster reverence and respect for Balinese culture and tradition
● to enhance the spirit of community and to reciprocate the cultural ideals of Balinese artistic
idioms
● to participate in cultural exchanges through informal social gatherings and joint artistic
achievements.
Founded in 1988, Gamelan Tunas Mekar began under the tutelage of Wayne Vitale. In 1990, the group was named by I Ketut Madri, a musician from the village of Pengosekan in central Bali. As the group’s first Balinese teacher, he was asked to provide a name, and his choice was appropriate. “Tunas” means a stored bit of life force, such as a seed of a floral bud, and “Mekar” means to put forth. This name has given the group its sense of identity: a wayward seed, blown far from the parent plant and landing on unfamiliar soil that has nonetheless produced an amazing flower.
Organization name
Gamelan Tunas Mekar
1988
Tax id (EIN)
84-1211764
Category
Arts, Culture & Humanities
Organization Size
Small Organization
Address
PO BOX 12284Denver, CO, US
Arapahoe County, CO, US
Larimer County, CO, US