Embodying the "Living Museum": The Promise and Perils of Diversity in Music Education

The Middlebury Department of Music presents

A TALK by Dr. Elizabeth Clendinning, Associate Professor of Music and Director of the Wake Forest University Balinese Gamelan (Gamelan Giri Murti) at Wake Forest University

Drawing on the image of the “living museum,” a phrase used to describe the cultural tourism development of Bali in the 1920s and 1930s, this talk illuminates pedagogical and artistic exchanges and professional equity in the Indonesian-American gamelan (percussion orchestra) community, one of the oldest world music ensemble communities in the United States. Through telling the stories of several individuals (Balinese and American alike) who have devoted their lives to education American students about Indonesian performing arts, the talk examines the challenges of using world music ensembles to build sustainable transnational connections and the educational promise of doing so.

Virtual Lecture, public welcome. Click here to register.