President - Jeremy Dullard
Jeremy Dullard is a musician, composer, educator and the founder/Musical Director of Gamelan DanAnda (GDA). A percussionist fluent across classical, jazz and contemporary idioms, Jeremy leads our schedule of weekly gamelan classes, and is the musical director of all of our performances.
Between 2007–2013 he undertook seven self-funded research trips to Bali, studying multiple styles with master musicians and acquiring instrument sets for GDA. In addition to GDA, he has taught gamelan at the Victorian College of the Arts and Melbourne Polytechnic, and delivered Musica Viva in Schools programs.
Jeremy has created acclaimed fusion projects and presentations at festivals including OzAsia, Brunswick Music Festival, National Folk Festival and Port Fairy Folk Festival, including Firetail x GDA, Saudara Sound System, Ready New Gang and collaborations with Komang and Joelistics.
His practice centres cultural exchange, rigorous ensemble training and composition that welcomes newcomers and challenges professionals. As Musical Director, Jeremy stewards artistic integrity, repertoire development, recording, touring and mentorship for emerging community teachers.
Between 2007–2013 he undertook seven self-funded research trips to Bali, studying multiple styles with master musicians and acquiring instrument sets for GDA. In addition to GDA, he has taught gamelan at the Victorian College of the Arts and Melbourne Polytechnic, and delivered Musica Viva in Schools programs.
Jeremy has created acclaimed fusion projects and presentations at festivals including OzAsia, Brunswick Music Festival, National Folk Festival and Port Fairy Folk Festival, including Firetail x GDA, Saudara Sound System, Ready New Gang and collaborations with Komang and Joelistics.
His practice centres cultural exchange, rigorous ensemble training and composition that welcomes newcomers and challenges professionals. As Musical Director, Jeremy stewards artistic integrity, repertoire development, recording, touring and mentorship for emerging community teachers.
Vice President - Ria Soemardjo
Ria Soemardjo is a Naarm based musician with a passion for intercultural collaborations across diverse genres and artforms. She creates and performs music for independent contemporary dance and theatre in Australia and Asia. A sought-after collaborator, her evocative soundscapes are often performed live using voice, gamelan, frame drums and her own hand-crafted clay flutes and drums. Her distinct, haunting vocal style reflects her Australian/Javanese heritage and a deep appreciation for Balinese and Javanese gamelan traditions. Ria has been a member of Gamelan DanAnda since its inception and has worked with the core leaders for over 20 years. She continues to perform Javanese vocal repertoire around Australia.
Many of Ria’s works develop contemporary performance/rituals in response to natural or urban sites. Recent projects include Ngayomi (with Jade Dewi Tyas Tunggal), excerpted at Marrugeku’s Contested Lands forum (2023); processional works for Chinatown and the Mission to Seafarers; guided audio walks Murmuring Lake and Swallow Walk; and Of Frogs (Darebin FUSE 2022), featuring her handmade sound sculptures.
Ria received a 2024 Green Room nomination for The Swallows (with Helen Mountfort). Other credits include Ros Warby’s Tower Suites (Green Room Award), Enfold and Opal Vapour. Recent highlights include the sold-out OzAsia Saudara Sound System (Joelistics/GDA), a Melbourne Recital Centre album launch, a La Mama season of Surat-Suratnya, and the third album release with her trio Fine Blue Thread.
Many of Ria’s works develop contemporary performance/rituals in response to natural or urban sites. Recent projects include Ngayomi (with Jade Dewi Tyas Tunggal), excerpted at Marrugeku’s Contested Lands forum (2023); processional works for Chinatown and the Mission to Seafarers; guided audio walks Murmuring Lake and Swallow Walk; and Of Frogs (Darebin FUSE 2022), featuring her handmade sound sculptures.
Ria received a 2024 Green Room nomination for The Swallows (with Helen Mountfort). Other credits include Ros Warby’s Tower Suites (Green Room Award), Enfold and Opal Vapour. Recent highlights include the sold-out OzAsia Saudara Sound System (Joelistics/GDA), a Melbourne Recital Centre album launch, a La Mama season of Surat-Suratnya, and the third album release with her trio Fine Blue Thread.
Treasurer - John Cheong-Holdaway
John Cheong-Holdaway is a creative producer, musician and economist with extensive experience working in a wide range of sectors, social settings and countries to create social and policy change. In his current focus in the arts he thinks deeply about how to create and deliver projects that push boundaries and create platforms for radical inclusion and for deep intercultural and intergenerational collaboration. He has been a member of, and the Treasurer of Gamelan DanAnda since 2017.
John is the Creative Director at Gamelan DanAnda, a Balinese gamelan orchestra in Melbourne. In this role he is bringing gamelan to new audiences by creating festivals of traditional music and dance, taking Gamelan DanAnda to major festivals, and creating radical new fusion works in genres as diverse as hip hop and jazz-fusion.
John has a long association with Indonesia, having spent over a decade living and working in Jakarta beginning when he moved there as a child in the early 1990s. He speaks Indonesian fluently, and is passionate about all forms of Indonesian music.
John is an active gigging and recording musician on guitar, bass, synthesizers, Balinese gamelan, and Sundanese kacapi in genres as diverse as indie-pop, dangdut and punk.
John brings a wealth of experience with policy reform, strategic advisory and various forms of quantitative analysis having spent two decades working as an economist in infrastructure and energy. He is recognised as a clear communicator across cultures, disciplines, and languages and brings a passion for collaboration to all he does.
John is the Creative Director at Gamelan DanAnda, a Balinese gamelan orchestra in Melbourne. In this role he is bringing gamelan to new audiences by creating festivals of traditional music and dance, taking Gamelan DanAnda to major festivals, and creating radical new fusion works in genres as diverse as hip hop and jazz-fusion.
John has a long association with Indonesia, having spent over a decade living and working in Jakarta beginning when he moved there as a child in the early 1990s. He speaks Indonesian fluently, and is passionate about all forms of Indonesian music.
John is an active gigging and recording musician on guitar, bass, synthesizers, Balinese gamelan, and Sundanese kacapi in genres as diverse as indie-pop, dangdut and punk.
John brings a wealth of experience with policy reform, strategic advisory and various forms of quantitative analysis having spent two decades working as an economist in infrastructure and energy. He is recognised as a clear communicator across cultures, disciplines, and languages and brings a passion for collaboration to all he does.
Secretary - Alexander Eastwood
Alexander is a policy and strategy specialist with a strong background in education, policy and cross-cultural engagement.
At GDA he leads board administration and compliance, including meeting agendas and minutes, annual workplans and policy reviews, and supports implementation of the organisation’s child-safe and cultural-safety settings.
An educator in public schools, and program facilitator in tertiary and community settings, Alexander brings rigorous governance practice, clear communication and a commitment to inclusive participation to his board role.
At GDA he leads board administration and compliance, including meeting agendas and minutes, annual workplans and policy reviews, and supports implementation of the organisation’s child-safe and cultural-safety settings.
An educator in public schools, and program facilitator in tertiary and community settings, Alexander brings rigorous governance practice, clear communication and a commitment to inclusive participation to his board role.
|
|
Find Us Here |