Berkeley Art Museum Sculpture Garden
Free admission

A performance by Gamelan Gender Wayang will be a featured event of this year's popular Berkeley World Music Festival. One of the smallest types of gamelan (bronze and bamboo ensembles of Java and Bali), gender wayang has been likened to a string quartet in its compact complexity. In Bali, gender wayang music is performed as part of wayang kulit (shadow puppet theater), which plays a central role in ceremonial and secular Balinese life. The ensemble accompanies the dalang (shadow puppet master), who brings to life stories taken from ancient Hindu and Balinese epics.

The San Francisco-based Gamelan Gender Wayang ensemble includes Lisa Gold, who teaches Balinese and Javanese music at UC Berkeley and San Jose State University; Reiko Hasegaza, winner of best drummer award in Japan's Yamaha Rock Contest; and Sarah Willner, who has studied with gender wayang masters in Bali. The three musicians are also associated with the Bay Area ensemble Gamelan Sekar Jaya. Also featured is Paul Miller, who composes electronic and gamelan music and was awarded Indonesia's Dharmasiswa scholarship.

For information about the 7th Annual Berkeley World Music Festival and the program of free continuous performances from noon to 9 p.m. on June 5, 2010, please consult berkeleyworldmusic.org.