Experience an incredible performance of Buffalo's Balinese music and dance group!
Bali Comes to Buffalo returns for our third year of incredible Indonesian gamelan music and dance at Nusantara Arts own Indonesian culture center in the Elmwood Village of Buffalo! Bali Comes to Buffalo is turning into a highlight, not to be missed performance in Buffalo every December! Nusantara Arts again welcomes Gusti Komin, master Balinese musician and composer for this performance and we have put together an incredible program that we can’t wait to share with you!
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2025 program highlights:
Sekar Gendot: An electrifying 100 year old composition in the “pelegongang” repertoire by one of Bali’s most enduring and pivotal composers “I Wayan Lotring” - Sekar Gendot is the first piece Nusantara Arts has performed with our dual gendér rambat instruments and dual drums.
Sisya Jegeg: A new dance composition by Gusti Komin written especially for Buffalo. Komin wanted to write an exciting dance song that takes advantage of Nusantara Arts unique 7-tone semar pegulingan gamelan. Sekar Jegeg modulates through four different scalet: patemon, selisir, tembung, and angeter agung to create an eye opening variety of sounds that highlight the breadth of 7-tone possibilities. Nusantara Arts own Riesa Avanti has worked on a new choreography to accompany this composition.
Kecak: Bali is filled with an incredible variety of music forms, some of which don’t even use instruments! Enter kecak - the hypnotic rhythmic “monkey chant” and dance of Bali. Introduced to many outside Ball in the film Baraka, tourists to Bali will often make sure to attend one of these captivating performances that happen in many temples.
Gendér Batel - In the last two Bali Comes to Buffalo Shows we have featured a gendèr wayang composition with a small group of 4 slendro tuned instruments. This year Komin chose to perform a fairly unique composition from his fathers gendèr group that was composed in 1990 and went on to win the island wide composition and performance contest Festival Wayang Ramayana. This gendèr piece is unique for including a section of rhythmic gamelan instruments: gong, kethuk, kajar, and kempli. it hightlights Komins virtuosity, as he is considered one of the best gendèr players and improvisors from Bali.
Guest Performers
I Gusti Nyoman “Komin” Darta - Guest Balinese Artistic director
Komin is one of the most well regarded and talented Balinese musicians living in the US. He is one of the only teachers that knows the traditional Balinese gamelan Semar Pegulingan repertoire that is played on Nusantara Arts instruments and is very talented at the Barong Dance.
Komin is from Pengosekan village on Bali and comes from a family of musicians. In his youth Komin went to temples to watch his father play and started learning many instruments. Komin learned in the true Balinese way: at home, in the temple, and in the community through experiences with close family and friends. He became known as a virtuoso player and helped found one of the most famous Balinese performing arts ensembles: Cudamani. For the last 10 years Komin has been living in New York and teaching at various colleges such as MIT, Bucknell, Queens College, and in community groups such as Dharma Swara.
