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Friends of the Gamelan, Inc. (FROG) incorporated in 1980 as a Javanese gamelan community ensemble with the purpose of providing music instruction and performance. Chicago Balinese Gamelan music and dance ensemble was founded in 2017, and in 2023, the two nonprofits merged. Today, Friends of the Gamelan includes two ensembles with individually distinct sets of gamelan instruments, each respectively dedicated to Javanese and Balinese gamelan music and dance.
Contact us at info@chicagogamelan.org
About FROG
Claire Fassnacht, Artistic Director
Claire (she/her) has been learning and performing gamelan and dance since 2010, beginning with instruction from I Dewa Ketut Alit Adnyana at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisc. In 2015, she completed Dharmasiswa, a one-year fellowship sponsored by the Indonesian Ministry of Culture, having studied at the Institut Seni Indonesia music and dance conservatory in Denpasar, Bali. Claire founded Chicago Balinese Gamelan in 2017, and the ensemble was adopted into the Friends of the Gamelan nonprofit organization in 2023. She performs Balinese and Javanese gamelan music and dance throughout the U.S.
Alex Yoffe, Artistic Director
Alex Yoffe (he/him) is a Javanese gamelan musician and teacher. After completing his degree in music composition at the CCPA, he went on to the concentrated study of Central Javanese gamelan, having been awarded a scholarship—fully funded by the Indonesian government—at the Indonesian Institute of the Arts in Surakarta (ISI Surakarta). Yoffe has performed with and taught many gamelans across the US, including Gamelan Laras Tentrem (Boston), Gamelan Kusuma Laras (NYC), Gamelan Sari Raras Irama (Buffalo, NY), as well as at numerous universities and colleges. He has also performed with many groups and renowned musicians in Java, Indonesia.
Board of Directors
Mike Awe, Board President
Christopher Chung, Vice President and Secretary
Michael McKinley, Treasurer
Tina Horton
Ivan Indrautama
Sam Rowe
Ben Thevathasan
Unless specified otherwise, all website photos
of the ensemble are by Ivan Indrautama.
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