Sustainability and the Academic World Music Ensemble

Abstract

The chapter examines the cultural sustainability of American academic gamelan specifically and academic world music ensembles more generally. Gamelan ensembles in North America exist in different cultural contexts than do those in Indonesia; in particular, American gamelans lack the societal reinforcement of the arts derived from Balinese Hindu ceremonies and the tourist industry. Within the American gamelan artistic ecosystem, there are many reasons why ensembles may fail or fade away, including lack of interested students or available teachers (selection), competition for space and resources, performative and pedagogical adaptations necessary for thriving in a new environment, and reciprocity or exchange between the ensemble and its community. Building sustainable gamelan ensembles—and indeed, sustainable non-Western academic ensembles—requires embracing collaborative models of musicianship, teaching, and scholarship that move gamelan from a marginalized position in curricula to sharing equal footing with other types of music in educational settings.