THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY College of Music presents
Chinese Music Ensemble Haiqiong Deng, Director featuring
Kuan-yu Yang, Composer and
Sekaa Gong Hanuman Agung Balinese Gamelan Nick Montoya, Director
Wednesday, November 19, 2025 7:30 p.m. | Opperman Music Hall
Chinese Music Ensemble Haiqiong Deng, Director Strolling Along the West Lake Nuo Meng Da Lai
Wine Mad Horse Racing Flowing Water
DiuDiuDang Harvest Drum
Huanren Gu (b. 1942)
Ensemble
Mongolian Folk Song arr. Kuan-Yu Yang (b. 2002)
Armin Akhavian, ruan
Angelian Sordo, Nicolas Villabona, and Yin Yang, erhu Haiqiong Deng, qin
Improvisation Huang Haihuai (b. 1959) Ancient
Taiwanese Folk Song arr. Kuan-Yu Yang
Ensemble
Chinese Music Ensemble Personnel Dizi: Meeya Jonas, Ryan Sullivan Sheng/composer: Kuan-Yu Yang Zheng: Haiqiong Deng, Jane Clendinning, Isabel Liu, Shuyuan Metcalfe Zhong Ruan: Nathan Wu, Madison Zuel Da Ruan: Armin Akhavian Yangqin/Qin: Haiqiong Deng Erhu: Angelina Sordo, Nicolas Villabona, Yin Yang Percussion: Ruoyu Liu; Shoulin Luo INTERMISSION
Li Zuji (b. 1932) arr. Kuan-Yu Yang
Sekaa Gong Hanuman Agung Balinese Gamelan Nick Montoya, Director Jauk Longgor
Traditional arr. Nick Montoya
Genggong Gilak Penutup
Traditional arr. Nick Montoya
Beleganjur
Traditional arr. Nick Montoya and Michael Bakan
Kecak
Traditional arr. Nick Montoya and Michael Bakan
Terang Terobos (2025)
Nick Montoya
Sekaa Gong Hanuman Agung Balinese Gamelan Personnel Lovinta Atrinawati, Daniel Cobbey, Wesley Gibson, Ashley Hall, Shawn Havery, Kyle McDonald, Katherine Ng Elizabeth Novak, Raúl Parra, Samuel Payne, Elise Ruggiero, Dolan Sipes, Emma Webb, Marie Yonts
To Ensure An Enjoyable Concert Experience For All… Please refrain from talking, entering, or exiting during performances. Food and drink are prohibited in all concert halls. Recording or broadcasting of the concert by any means, including the use of digital cameras, cell phones, or other devices is expressly forbidden. Please deactivate all portable electronic devices including watches, cell phones, pagers, hand-held gaming devices or other electronic equipment that may distract the audience or performers. Recording Notice: This performance may be recorded. Please note that members of the audience may at times be included in this process. By attending this performance you consent to have your image or likeness appear in any live or recorded video or other transmission or reproduction made in conjunction to the performance. Florida State University provides accommodations for persons with disabilities. Please notify the College of Music at (850) 644-3424 at least five working days prior to a musical event to request accommodation for disability or alternative program format.
NOTES Jauk Longgor An exciting classic of the gamelan gong kebyar repertoire. Here instrumental, but customarily performed with a dancer, the Jauk Longgor dance depicts the valor of a great and powerful king who uses his strength and authority to protect and preserve the life of the forest. While much of Balinese gamelan music features two interlocking kendang drummers, this piece features a single drummer playing in the style of kendang tunggal to lead the ensemble. Genggong Gilak Penutup This piece usually serves as an instrumental closing piece for the Balinese dance-drama Tari Godogan, or The Frog Dance. The drama depicts a story similar to the tale of The Princess and the Frog, and the peculiar instruments used in it are iconic of the frog chorus that fills the air surrounding the rice fields of Bali. These instruments are ancient jaw harps called genggong, made from the midrib of a palm frond. This performance will be the first ever of a gamelan genggong made up of non-Balinese musicians outside the island, dedicated to the preservation efforts of I Nyoman Suwida. Beleganjur Beleganjur is the processional gamelan of warfare and spirit battles with underworld forces in Bali. It is music of power, invigorating people with the energy to lift the bade (the tower which temporarily houses the deceased on its processional journey) while also frightening away demons who seek to drag the deceased soul to the underworld. Kecak Descending from an ancient and sacred trance-dance ritual called Sanghyang Dedari, or “trance dance of the celestial nymphs,” the mesmerizing gamelan suara, or “vocal gamelan,” texture of the Balinese Kecak dance drama is featured in this vocal percussion arrangement, in which we invite you, the audience, to join us in some veritable monkey business (the drama enacts a battle featuring an army of mythic monkey warriors from the Hindu epic Ramayana). Terang Terobos The title, translated from Bahasa Indonesia to English, means “The Light that Breaks Through.” This piece, in the gamelan gong kebyar contemporary subgenre of tabuh kreasi, recounts the daily struggle of living and choosing to persevere, rather than give up. It expresses the hope that despite incessant and powerful opposition, our consistent efforts for a better world will break through into a new day. Musically, the core melody of the piece has a sort of spinning circularity that is constantly changing and interrupted. Busy and overwhelming gong cycles drive the meter forward, even through its sense of subtle lopsidedness. The interlocking parts are mentally and physically taxing, intensifying and embodying the spiraling quality of the core melody. This is Montoya’s first full composition for gamelan, specifically catered to the exceptional talent and work-ethic of the Fall 2025 FSU gamelan.