Soloevent.id – Gamelan is an authentic Indonesian art that has spread to various countries. Now foreigners are interested in playing gamelan. In recent years, there have been British citizens who are members of a community called Siswa Sukra. They routinely play Javanese gamelan.
This group was formed 5 years ago and initially only had 5 members, namely Charles (boning bat), Sammy Bret (kendang drummer), Jonathan Roberts and Sophie Ransby (manager), and Peter Smith alias Parto (Sukra Student teacher). Now Sukra Students are 20 to 25 people.
The naming of Sukra Students is taken from the word “student” which means learner and “sukra” meaning Friday in Sanskrit. They are used to communicating using Javanese, but are less fluent in Indonesian.
Gamelan players are aged 17-71 years. Each member has a different background. This gamelan community usually practices almost every day, especially Thursday evenings at the largest arts center in England, namely Klenengan at Southbank Center, London.
This community is still rarely known to the public, but the players are well known in London because of its uniqueness in playing gamelan. The Sukra Student Community aims to introduce Javanese gamelan culture in several countries.
When performing in London, they often play popular songs combined with Javanese dances.
Last year, Parto et al. tour in Indonesia. Solo and Yogyakarta are one of the target cities. This tour is intended to get to know more about Javanese gamelan art. They also had time to study at the Indonesian Institute of Art in Surakarta with Pras Dianto, Bambang Siwanto, Ki Dalang Widodo, Sri Suparsih. They also had a visit to the center of making gamelan in the village of Wirun Mojolaban Sukoharjo.
This August 2018, Sukra Students will perform again in Solo City. They will perform at the 2018 International Gamelan Festival event.
