We’re launching our new project, Akar, with a tour of Java featuring crankies, storytelling, songs, and international collaborators.
Beyond the simple pleasure of of performing beautiful music and shadow theater, Rumput’s mission has been intercultural communion through study and collaboration. Last year we traveled to Java on the extraordinary opportunity of an invited 12-day residency. The timing lined up fortuitously with Andy’s academic research in Bali and the departure of three of our members for a year of intensive study in Java — Hannah on a Fulbright scholarship to study keroncong, Natalie on a Darmasiswa scholarship to study gamelan, and Edward on a Darmasiswa to study wayang (shadow puppetry). We got to escort them overseas, play music together, immerse ourselves in the local culture, and collaborate with enormously talented Javanese musicians.
This summer we’re mounting a similar journey on the other end of our scholars’ study year. But this time we’re traveling on our own steam, with our own agenda, rather than on a sponsored, curated, and all-expenses-paid trip. This will enable us to dig deeper into the highly localized cultures of several Indonesian cities.
Detail from Beth Reid’s “Brer Rabbit” crankie. Photo by Robert Parrish.
RIFF Music Fest is an international competitive festival with 65 local, national and international bands selected to perform at venues around Richmond over 5 days concurrent with RIFF’s film festival. A week full of great performances, industry panels, industry think tanks, RIFF jam sessions, and a platform for filmmakers and musicians to network and forge new working relationships.
Rumput will play the World & Americana Music Showcase at the Hof Garden along with Rawan Chaya (Lebanon) and Ezra Vancil (Dallas TX).
Rumput is thrilled to open for Ceramic Dog. Get there promptly to catch us!
DJ and sound artist Maria Chavez will perform at the after party.
“Guitarist Marc Ribot’s wildest project doesn’t mess around. The guitar legend, with bassist Shahzad Ismaily, and drummer Ches Smith, merges funk backbeats with the taut chaos of Sonic Youth and flashes of Woodstock Santana.”
(NY Magazine, 2018)
Born in Lima, Peru, Maria Chavez is known as an abstract turntablist, sound artist and DJ. Accidents, coincidence and failures are themes that unite her sound sculptures, installations and other works with her solo turntable performance practice.
Kroncong by Rumput, plus music composed and improvised by Andrew Timar, CAGE, and Szkieve.
The Cornell Modern Indonesia Project brings together some forty participants from the US, Canada, and Indonesia, to sound out the state of Indonesian music, both as a subject of scholarly inquiry, and as an artistic practice pursued within and beyond Indonesia. Those who work primarily as scholars of Indonesian music, mostly within the field of ethnomusicology, will be joined by others from in, around, and outside academia who work primarily as practitioners: as performers, composers, ensemble directors, and promoters. The mix of paper presentations, roundtables, and performances will build on the overlap and connections between these constituencies, whose priorities and attentions may differ but who fundamentally share a common cause.
Nat and Ed are spending the year in Surakarta, Central Java, learning about Indonesian arts and culture. Today they try their hand at cooking a popular Indonesian dish.
Check out this feature article in VCU Alumni magazine about Hannah’s Fulbright research on preserving an endangered form of music on the remote island of Mendanau.
Danis Sugiyanto, Guest Artistic Director, Spring 2018
Born to a renowned family of musicians in Solo, Java, Mr. Sugiyanto has been an active performer of traditional gamelan, kroncong and experimental music since his early teens. He graduated in 1995 with a BA from the Indonesian Institute of the Arts in Solo, earning his MA there in 2003 and immediately joined the permanent faculty. He has performed extensively in Asia, Australia, America and Europe. He was a featured musician in Robert Wilson’s I La Galigo and has performed extensively with artists including I Wayan Sadra, Slamet Gundana, Dedek Wahyudi, Dedy Luthan, Enthus Susmana, Hajar Satoto, Yayat Suheryatna, Suprapto Suryodarmo, Bambang ‘Mbesur’ Suryono, Purwa Lelana, Wasi Bantolo, Sri Wardoyo, Anjarany, Ong Keng Sen, and Michi Tomioka.
Mas Danis served as a visiting Fulbright Scholar in 2018 with dual appointments teaching Javanese gamelan at William & Mary and the University of Richmond. He joined Rumput during his semester-long residency, playing key gigs at Cornell University, in Baltimore and Washington DC, and in Richmond. He also helped us compose and arrange music for our major touring project, Akar.
Detail from Beth Reid’s “Brer Rabbit” crankie. Photo by Robert Parrish.
Rumput will provide music for a 
Rumput is thrilled to open for Ceramic Dog. Get there promptly to catch us!
Born in Lima, Peru, Maria Chavez is known as an abstract turntablist, sound artist and DJ. Accidents, coincidence and failures are themes that unite her sound sculptures, installations and other works with her solo turntable performance practice.
