University of Delaware
Office of Public Relations
UpDate - Vol. 16, No. 21, Feb. 27, 1997

              Two gamelan concerts March 13 in Georgetown
     
     The Gamelan Lake of the Silver Bear, an Indonesian-
style orchestra at the University, will present two free
concerts on Thursday, March 13, in Georgetown.
     The orchestra, directed by Michael Zinn, music, will
perform for high school students at 12:30 p.m. and for the
general public at 7:30 p.m. in the West Building Theatre of
the Higher Education Building.
     Gamelan is the Javanese word for orchestra, and for
more than 15 years, Zinn and his musicians have been
delighting audiences with this taste of the exotic. The
instruments themselves are unusual, as the celempung (a
stringed zither) and kenong (a set of pot gongs) replace the
usual violins and cellos. Lines of numbers are used instead
of notes on sheet music, and the musicians perform barefoot
in flowing patterned batik skirts and waist cloths instead
of in tuxedos and gowns.
     Zinn first saw a gamelan perform years ago at a
conference in Milwaukee. He said the beauty of the ancient
art form prompted him to pursue a fellowship in Asian music
at the University of Michigan. He gained hands-on experience
when he performed in the gamelan ensemble there.
     "I couldn't get the sounds out of my head," said Zinn,
who is also a composer. Eventually, he spent two years
making 16 of the 18 instruments used by the gamelan at UD.
The other two-a bronze gong with a teakwood frame, and a
kethuk, a set of bronze knobbed pots-were both imported from
Java.
     Following a tradition started in the 9th century, A.D.,
Zinn tuned his instruments to their own spirit. Each gamelan
ensemble is tuned only to itself, and no two gamelans are
ever tuned alike, Zinn explained.
     The group name, Gamelan Lake of the Silver Bear, also
has individual significance. According to Zinn, the bear
symbolizes an animal native to North America, and most of
the orchestra pieces are made of silver-colored aluminum.
     In 1982, Gamelan Lake of the Silver Bear was offered as
an experimental music course and attracted 12 students, none
of whom had any musical background. Zinn described them as
"very enthusiastic" as they learned together during weekly
trips to play with musicians at the Embassy of the Republic
of Indonesia in Washington, D.C.
     Today's, the ensemble consists of 18 members. Some
former participants have even gone on to participate in the
director's community group, which meets Wednesday evenings
in Newark. Others have composed original works that have
been performed by the group.
     Zinn said he considers himself a part of the group. In
addition to teaching his students the history and theory of
Javanese and Balinese music, he serves as a percussionist on
a set of hand drums.
     His close interaction with the orchestra has brought
some teasing from colleagues. "They say I'm the only faculty
member who conducts barefoot," he said.
     Despite the seemingly off-beat characteristics of the
orchestra, audience response has been overwhelming positive.
The two to four concerts the ensemble performs each year
have attracted full houses.
     In addition to directing the gamelan, Zinn teaches
courses in music theory, composition, orchestration and
more. A published composer, he has been awarded a
postdoctoral fellowship for the study of non-Western musical
cultures through the National Endowment for the Humanities,
and the recipient of numerous scholarships, commissions,
citations in teaching excellence and awards in composition.
     Three times, Zinn has been named Delaware's Composer of
the Year. He is coauthor, with Robert Hogenson of the UD
music faculty, of Basics of Music Theory: Opus I, a
fundamentals of music theory text published by Schirmer
Books, a division of McMillan Publishing.
     For more information on the Georgetown concerts,
contact Mark McLeod in the Parallel Program in Georgetown at
856-5400.
                                                -Beth Thomas