In the past we have offered a very active programme of educational activities for a wide range of groups including young children, school pupils, students, and people with additional support needs.

At present Naga Mas as a group does not have the capacity to deliver this strand of activity ourselves. However, we have compiled a list of experienced gamelan tutors based in Glasgow, all of whom have previously worked with the group, who would be qualified to take on work of this nature.

Please get in touch with us through our contacts page if you would like further information.

Below are some of our previous work in this area.

30 Sep 2008 Heads of Instrumental Teaching Scotland (HITS) Conference

Gamelan Naga Mas presented a hands-on workshop for educators attending the HITS Conference demonstrating the remarkable power of the gamelan orchestra in helping participants develop ensemble music skills, and individual performance technique. With nearly instant access to music making, the instruments are examined from the viewpoint not only of the originating culture, but from the gamelan’s relevance in western classrooms and therapeutic environments.

As part of the arrangement with HITS, we offered an additional workshop for the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama students and held an open group rehearsal inviting both RSAMD students and staff to join in.

Sept 2008 Good Vibrations 2008

Good Vibrations gamelan project at The State Hospital: Scotland’s high security psychiatric hospital. Naga Mas members Margaret Smith and Katherine Waumsley took the gamelan to the state hospital for the third year running, for an intensive week long project for patients, as part of the Good Vibrations team. Good Vibrations was set up in 2003 by Cathy Eastburn for Firebird Trust, and has has worked in 16 prisons and secure hospitals across the UK. It is a remarkable weeklong project that helps prisoners develop key skills such as team-working, communication and concentration.

30 – 31 May 2008 Music Trains 2008

Gamelan music workshops for adults with additional support needs and their support workers. Participants were encouraged to listen, explore and play the Javanese Gamelan. These workshops took place at Eden Court Theatre in Inverness for the Music Trains 2008 project.

23 April – 6 June 2008 Gamelan Gongs and Games

A 7 week project bringing together 4 primary schools in Easterhouse funded by Youth Music Initiative. For the first 6 weeks the children learnt about gamelan through rhythmic games and playing classroom instruments. In the 7th week the Spirit of Hope Gamelan was resident in the school where each group had a chance to play the gamelan and hear a special performance from Naga Mas.

March 2008 Gamelanability project in The Platform, Easterhouse

The gamelan was resident in the Platform, the arts centre at The Bridge, Easterhouse for a full week and a half of activities. Groups of adults with additional support needs from a range of community facilities, John Wheatley College and local SEN secondary schools enjoyed participating in gamelan workshops and creating music for a traditional Indonesian story, ‘the Spinning of the Ocean‘. Naga Mas also provided a public famlily performance of traditional and new Javanese and Balinese music, as part of this project.

6 Nov – 11 Dec 2007 ONGOING CLASS

A gamelan class for those who have completed a beginners gamelan class and would like to continue to learn under Signy Jakobsdottir’s tutelage for a 6 week block.

Autumn 2007 GOOD VIBRATIONS 2007

Good Vibrations gamelan project at The State Hospital: Scotland’s high security psychiatric hospital. Naga Mas members Margaret Smith and Katherine Waumsley took the gamelan to the state hospital for an intensive week long project for patients, as part of the Good Vibrations team. Good Vibrations was set up in 2003 by Cathy Eastburn for Firebird Trust, and has has worked in 16 prisons and secure hospitals across the UK. It is a remarkable weeklong project that helps prisoners develop key skills such as team-working, communication and concentration.

Autumn 2007 EAST WEST PROJECT (EAST)

Jon Keliehor, Gamelan Naga Mas convenor, ran a music project which provided a series of gamelan sessions for Primary 6/7 pupils from the Room 13 Music Studio programme at the Sacred Heart Primary School in Bridgeton.  This project aimed to encourage pupils to explore music creativity and self expression around the Gamelan.

10 March 2007 THE GAMELAN TREE

A gentle introduction to traditional gamelan music for families, starting from the roots to the fluttering leaves lead by Margaret Smith and J Simon van der Walt.

GOOD VIBRATIONS 2006
Autumn 2006

Good Vibrations gamelan project at The State Hospital: Scotland’s high security psychiatric hospital. Naga Mas members Margaret Smith and Katherine Waumsley took the gamelan to the state hospital for an intensive week long project for patients, as part of the Good Vibrations team. Good Vibrations was set up in 2003 by Cathy Eastburn for Firebird Trust, and has has worked in 16 prisons and secure hospitals across the UK. It is a remarkable weeklong project that helps prisoners develop key skills such as team-working, communication and concentration.WORLD MUSIC: INTRODUCTION TO GAMELAN and INTRODUCTION TO THE JAVANESE GAMELAN have been delivered by various individuals in a variety of formats to local schools primarily in Glasgow, and to children who were asylum seekers. When pupils encounter this impressive set of instruments the response has always been positive. As individuals begin to play and absorb information from the Indonesian cultural stream, it is both a musically and culturally enhancing experience.

2006 – THE JAVANESE GAMELAN sessions for new beginners concerned with learning the basics of playing gamelan. Open to the general public, classes are delivered in a series of evening sessions, or as one-off sessions for secondary and primary school pupils during the day. This course involves learning about the instruments and playing simple Javanese pieces. When presented in a creative format, a group will make their own music based on the musical structure of the piece they have learned.

2006 – GAMELAN AS THERAPEUTIC RESOURCE for MUSIC TRAINS 2006, Inverness, Dingwall, March. Educational workshops led by two teams; Jon Keliehor and Signy Jakobsdottir for mainstream and community education, and Katherine Waumsley and Margaret Smith for inclusive and additional support needs.

2006 – MARGARET SMITH PROJECT.  Margaret has run weekly sessions for the Glasgow City Council since 2001 with individuals and small groups. The sessions encourage communication, coordination and creativity. The gamelan is used as a medium through which small groups can record and perform their own music.

2006 – GAMELAN RESOURCE PROJECT. Katherine Waumsley runs an ongoing project in South Lanarkshire at the Murray Owen Centre. One-to-one and small group gamelan sessions for people with varying additional support needs.  Classes are tailored to individuals but generally include music playing skills, communication skills and personal/group creative development.

2006 – NAGA MAS: GAMELAN MUSIC ongoing weekly sessions for the community, many of whom work in various sectors of education. These sessions are for current members, new members and guests of Naga Mas.

2006 – GAMELAN AT TRAMWAY. An introductory experience to the Indonesian Gamelan Orchestra for primary and secondary schools in Glasgow. In April 2006, fifteen school groups attend one-hour workshops, co-led by Jon Keliehor and Signy Jakobsdottir of Luminous Music.

2005 – JAVA WEST LOOPS PROJECT integrated music exploration involving mainstream secondary school children, ASN adults, and visiting artists, culminating in public sharing sessions, led by Katherine Waumsley & musician Jane MacLean for South Lanarkshire Education & Culture. Music samples created by J. Simon van der Walt

2005 – GAMELAN AT TRAMWAY introductory sessions by Luminous Music of varying length for primary and secondary schools.  Schools include Steiner School, St Aloysious, others

2005– INTRODUCTION TO GAMELAN PLAYING, one-off workshops by Margaret Smith for secondary school pupils.

2005 – MARGARET SMITH PROJECT.  Margaret has run weekly sessions for the Glasgow City Council since 2001 with individuals and small groups. The sessions encourage communication, coordination and creativity. The gamelan is used as a medium through which small groups can record and perform their own music.

2004 – ANCHOR CENTRE RESIDENCY by Margaret Smith and Katherine Waumsley.
August 2004, a two-week residency at the Anchor Resource Centre. Daily one-off workshops and short performances as well as intensive sessions with one group throughout the two weeks. The end of the project was celebrated in a concert of traditional and devised gamelan music by members of Gamelan Naga Mas.

2004 – INTRODUCTION TO JAVANESE GAMELAN.  Royal Scottish National Orchestra: introductory session by Luminous Music, for members of the orchestra educational team, exploring the music tradition, gamelan instruments and their uses in education.

2004 – MYTH BEHAVING: MUSIC OF MAGIC RIVER.  Music/ Dance/ Story workshops led by Jon Keliehor, Signy Jakobsdottir, Aviva Kartiningsih Cohen, Susan Worsfold.  Children enact new mythology of their own devising.  Gamelan instruments are brought into play as participants learn exciting music for story and movement activities. Ages 4-8.

2004 – MR DEER.  A story, music, dance and craft workshop in the Hidden Gardens. Using traditional Indonesian trickster story.  Aviva Kartiningsih Cohen, Signy Jakobsdottir and Margaret Smith.

2004 – INDONESIAN GAMELAN, WAYANG SHADOW PUPPETS AND DANCE project in Haddenham, Cambridgeshire. An introductory workshops in primary and secondary schools led by Jon Keliehor, Signy Jakobsdottir, Matthew Issac Cohen, and guest artist Ekadamayanti.

2004 – MARGARET SMITH PROJECT.  Margaret has run weekly sessions for the Glasgow City Council since 2001 with individuals and small groups. The sessions encourage communication, coordination and creativity. The gamelan is used as a medium through which small groups can record and perform their own music.

2003 – MARGARET SMITH PROJECT.  Margaret has run weekly sessions for the Glasgow City Council since 2001 with individuals and small groups. The sessions encourage communication, coordination and creativity. The gamelan is used as a medium through which small groups can record and perform their own music.

2003 EXTRACTION – In-service programmes by Luminous Music on World Percussion and Javanese Gamelan Instruments in Education for Glasgow City Council Education.

2002 – INTRODUCTION TO MUSICAL CULTURES OF THE WORLD, a class taught at the RSAMD including lectures on Gamelan and practical workshops with students.

2002 – EXTRACTION – In-service programmes by Luminous Music on World Percussion and Javanese Gamelan Instruments in Education for Glasgow City Council Education.

2002 – SHADOW FUN workshop on shadow puppet making and storytelling for children, University of Glasgow.

2002 – JAVANESE SHADOW PUPPETS. A workshop on shadow puppets and
Indonesian performance, G12 University of Glasgow, for age 12 years+.

2002 – THE THREE-DAY GAMELAN AND WAYANG WORKSHOP for children, England led by Joko Susilo and Matthew Isaac Cohen.

2002-1999 – INSPIRATION FESTIVAL workshops by Luminous Music for Glasgow City Council, were created for schools with a variety of learning abilities:

2002 – JOURNEY TO SHADOW WORLD, Tron Theatre
2001 – STAR CONSTELLATION DANCES AND OTHER SKY STORIES, The Arches
1999 – PUSHING UP THE SKY, St Mungos Museum

1999 – INTRODUCTION TO THE INDONESIAN GAMELAN ORCHESTRA (Strathclyde  Arts Centre), for six Glasgow primary schools, led by Luminous Music.