Gamelan at Rockland Project School

This article recounts Barbara Benary’s experience introducing a Balinese-style angklung gamelan into the music curriculum of a small alternative elementary school in Valley Cottage, New York. Confronted with students lacking formal musical experience and resistant to conventional music activities, Benary discovered that gamelan instruments offered a unique path to engagement. Through improvisation, composition, group rehearsal, and playful notation systems, students learned musical and social cooperation skills. The project highlights the adaptability of gamelan pedagogy to non-traditional educational settings and the instrument’s potential to foster creativity and inclusion among young learners.