Posted 18 June 2024
Ireland's National Concert Hall Gamelan Orchestra has released their debut album featuring the renowned British jazz trumpeter Byron Wallen.
The orchestra is directed by Creative Futures Academy Composer-in-Residence Dr. Peter Moran (UCD School of Music). The performers on the album include CFA colleagues Prof. Jaime Jones and Dr. Donal Fullam, fellow UCD staff members Dr. Anika Babel and Prof. Denis Shields, and UCD alumni Sarah Walsh, Amy Shields, and Elenor Ronan. The ensemble was originally formed in UCD by Dr. Peter Moran and Prof. Jaime Jones before the group moved into the NCH.
This album has been released to mark the 10th Anniversary since His Royal Highness the Sultan of Yogyakarta presented the National Concert Hall with a unique collection of gamelan instruments as a gift to the Irish people in a traditional gamelan naming ceremony in 2014.News of the CD launch has been reported in national(opens in a new window) mediaoutletsin Indonesia.
The celebrated jazz trumpeter Byron Wallen features an original composition by Dr. Moran entitled "Embat". This work was originally written for the NCH Gamelan's inaugural concert during the sultan's visit, but it has been rearranged with Byron Wallen on trumpet, especially for this release.
To accompany the album, Dr. Moran has written a 44-page booklet, detailing the history of the instruments and the ensemble, from its roots in UCD to the building of the instruments and the sultan's royal visit, with stories of the orchestra's later concerts in Ireland and in Java, and the Indonesian reaction to those concerts.
The album is available for (opens in a new window)streamingand download, and a limited-edition 10th-Anniversary Commemorative CD is also (opens in a new window)available from Bandcamp.