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The Hallé Gamelan was jointly purchased by the Hallé and Manchester Music Service in 1993.

It was manufactured by Suhirdjan, a respected gamelan-maker from the city of Yogyakarta in Central Java, who named the gamelan Ruming Laras (Fragrant Harmony).

The gamelan programme run by the Hallé Education Department has been designed to reach as wide an audience as possible. Workshops have been developed for school groups of all ages 'from nursery to GSCE and 'A' level classes' and the Gamelan Officer runs courses for university and conservatoire students.

The Hallé also offers a range of family-based and community music projects: the gamelan has been in residency in local hospitals, day centres and young offender institutions.

The Hallé Gamelan is a versatile educational resource and provides an accessible way to experience the music of a non-Western culture at first hand.

Up to 20 players can be accommodated at any one time and the variety of instruments available and oral/aural method of working mean that material can be adapted to suit participants of all ages and abilities including those with special educational needs.

In addition, the gamelan's traditional role as accompaniment for dance and theatre leads naturally into creative cross-arts projects.

What do we offer?

There are a number of ways in which individuals and groups can access the Hallé's gamelan instruments:

One-off workshops at Zion Arts Centre, Manchester

These taster sessions provide a practical introduction to the gamelan.

Participants learn about instrumentation, tuning systems, musical structures and playing techniques, as well as the role of gamelan within Indonesian society.

By the end of the workshop most groups are able to play a short piece of traditional music. Sessions can be tailored to suit specific needs (e.g. a composition focus for GSCE music students).

Residencies

It is possible to arrange for the gamelan to come to your school (or other organisation) for a longer period of time usually from two or three days to a week.

This enables a larger number of participants to access the instruments and opens up the possibility of developing more in depth work with specific groups over a number of sessions.

Family/Community Group

Over the past 18 months the Hallé, in partnership with Youth Music, has run family gamelan groups in Formby and Manchester.

These groups proved to be popular and funding is now being sought to set up similar projects in the North West area.

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