Xin Wei THOW

August – October 2022 and 2023

The masterclass was part of the MA in Contemporary Southeast Asia programme offered by the National University of Singapore’s Southeast Asian Studies department. It introduced students to the Central Javanese Gamelan through a five session course where students received hands-on instruction in learning to play the music and worked towards participation in a klenengan, a musical gathering that involved the wider community of Javanese gamelan practitioners and enthusiasts in Singapore. Additionally, students were prompted to reflect on their experiences learning, playing and performing a Southeast Asian musical form, and encouraged to compare it with their previous knowledge, experience, and/or perspectives on music.