Jeremy Dullard is the founder and director of the Melbourne based Balinese music academy, Gamelan DanAnda. Already an experienced performer and educator of percussion in Classical, Jazz, and Pop genres when first hearing Balinese music, Jeremy instantly developed an undeniable attraction to Gamelan, for both its astounding sonic properties and as a unique inter-personal activity. By devoting his energies to the Gamelan music of Bali Jeremy has found an endless supply of inspiration for his desire to teach, study, perform and compose.
Growing up in a very musical home in Bendigo, Jeremy developed an early love of instruments and has always been fascinated by percussion ensembles. He played drums and percussion in a range of ensembles during his school years, but did not encounter Gamelan until his Bachelor of Music Improvisation studies at VCA in 2002, in an experimental Baleganjur ensemble led by Adrian Sherriff. Immediately captivated by the sounds and concepts found within the genre Jeremy quickly became involved in local Gamelan groups playing the music of Central Java (at Monash with Aline Scott-Maxwell, and MCG with Ki Poedijono), Cirebon (PPA with Dr Michael Ewing), and Bali (Mahindra Bali at the Indonesian Consulate). At this time he and Adrian focused intensely on playing Gender Wayang, and formed a multi-instrumental Balinese quartet with Adam King and Jo To under the group name Byar. From 2004-2010 Byar worked with MusicaViva In Schools to deliver educational workshops for primary and secondary students around Australia.
In 2006 Dr Made Mantle Hood and his wife Koming Somawati arrived at Monash University bringing with them the significant Balinese Gamelan “Genta Pinara Pitu”. Jeremy was an enthusiastic member of their group Genta Semara and graciously accepted Koming’s introductions to Balinese teachers when he undertook the first of several study trips to the island in 2006. Since then he has established strong networks and friendships with these master musicians, accepting the implied obligation to share their generous teachings.
In 2007 Jeremy returned to VCA’s Bachelor of Music to teach the experimental Gamelan class which had first opened his ears to the style, and in 2008 accepted a position at NMIT Fairfield, teaching Gamelan Angklung in their Bachelor of Music. Jeremy formed Gamelan DanAnda out of a desire to focus deeply on the music of Bali with a view to creating new works inside and outside the tradition. Melbourne is a city of extremely rich artistic development in a range of media, so the scope for ever changing collaborative innovation is potentially endless, for Jeremy, his colleagues, and students.