The University of Pittsburgh Department of Music will present "Music and Dance of West Java: The Past, Present, and Future of Sundanese Performing Arts" on October 11, to celebrate the new agreement between Pitt and a visiting Indonesian performing arts school.
Musicians and dancers from the Indonesian College of Performing Arts (STSI) in Bandung, Indonesia will present an evening of vocal music, instrumental music, and dance. The performers will explore a broad range of cultural expressions from the ancient aristocratic tembang Sunda Cianjuran (Sundanese vocal poetry accompanied by zither and flute) to the ebullient music of bamboo instruments and the popular jaipongan dance that thrilled audiences in the 1980s.The performance starts at 8:00 pm in the Bellefield Hall auditorium (map) and is free and open to the public.
Yesterday, the university announced a Memorandum of Understanding between it and the Indonesian College of Performing Arts to be signed on October 10.
Department of Music Chair Andrew Weintraub, who has collaborated on projects with the Indonesian College for 30 years, says the partnership will bring about an exchange of students and creative artists and will enhance the exploration and understanding of Sundanese culture and performing arts, a core strength of Pitt's ethnomusicology program.
"Stronger relationships lead to better understanding of cultural diversity, and vice versa," he said. "A formal agreement between Pitt and the Indonesian College will facilitate better communication between the two schools. Our goal is to generate collaborative research projects, a student exchange at the graduate and undergraduate levels, and, eventually, the development of a Pitt in Indonesia study abroad program."