Since the Covid-19 lockdown, Naga Mas have been looking for a way to continue to work together in a form of music that is inherently highly collaborative. In response to the ‘new to networking’ call, the group will present an online performance that constructs/reconstructs a traditional Javanese composition, using gamelan sounds with the Mini-Tidal language in the Estuary platform.
The Glasgow Gamelan Group Naga Mas was established in 1993, shortly after the arrival of the ‘Spirit of Hope’ instruments in the city. Twenty-seven years later this community-based group is still going strong.
Their work falls in to three areas. In performing the traditional music of Central Java, the group have in recent years benefitted from regular residencies by master musician Prasadiyanto, supported by the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia.
In education and outreach, Naga Mas regularly offers workshops for beginners and partners with other organisations to facilitate musical work with a wide range of interest groups.
Their third great passion is creating and performing contemporary music for gamelan. As well as dozens of original compositions by members of the group, Naga Mas have created two full-length performances combining original music and live video, ‘Gamelan Untethered’ (2014) and ‘Sedna, the Woman under the Sea’ (2015).