UMBC celebrated its newest alumni last week with a May Grads Day celebration. Sheltered from a spring storm, more than 200 members of the Class of 2018 gathered for an evening of music and merriment — including a champagne toast. Congratulations to our new Retriever alumni!

Here are a few shots of the evening’s fun by Kiirstn Pagan ’11. See more, including photo booth photos, here.

In the corner of the Music Box theater, a spacious room on the first floor of the Performing Arts and Humanities Building, lives a curious collection of gold-colored instruments. Organized in an ensemble on the floor, all of the pieces make up the gamelan, one of the most unique musical instruments on campus.

“Take your shoes off and find a spot to jump right in,” says instructor Gina Beck, M.A. ’90, ethnomusicology, as she invites her students to sit on floor mats behind each individual piece of the Indonesian instrument. They file in toward the gamelan and choose their places. Some sit behind the bronze bars of the sarons in the front and second row; some choose mats behind the shiny kettle-like bonang instruments to the left; and a couple go for the gongs in the back.

Once the students are settled, the professor counts off a song and they begin to play. The music evokes a kind of ringing sound like an ensemble of bells, but more delicate on the ear. Beck observes the gamelan “has a sound that can come forth dramatically as well as so delicately that it is floating on air.”

A Sound “Like Floating on Air”

Each piece of the ensemble contributes to the gamelan’s warm, relaxing sound made up of melodic tunes, musical flourishes, and percussion all working together. Most of the instruments are made out of bronze casing and keys that the player taps with a tabuh (a padded hammer). UMBC’s ensemble also includes hand drums and stringed instruments.

Tyler Whittenburg ’20, Asian studies, says, “there’s different instruments with different levels of skill required to play, so the sarons in the middle are what everybody starts off playing.” The sarons provide the melody for the whole ensemble and are traditionally made up of seven numbered bronze metal keys encased on a decorative wooden frame. In order to play, one taps the numbered keys with a tabuh and follows the melody’s numbered pattern. Rather than relying on sheet music, players follow a pattern of numbers, such as “6-3-6-3-6-3-6-3-5-6-3-6-3-6- 3-5-3-2-1-3-2-1” and repeat.

However, more rhythmically inclined students might enjoy a challenge with the bonang instruments. The bonang consists of gold-colored “pots” placed in two rows within a wooden frame that the player taps with a tabuh. Because this is an elaborating instrument, it does not play the basic melody with the sarons but, rather, adds flourishes around the melody. Any gamelan ensemble would struggle, however, without the help of a drummer to provide the steady beat. At the front of UMBC’s student ensemble is a two-faced drum that is tapped by the musician’s hands.

All of these elements together — the rhythm from the drums, the saron’s resounding melody, the bonang’s colorful elaborations, and additional music from stringed instruments and the gongs — create the gamelan’s unique sound.

Because the gamelan can be played by musicians of all levels, UMBC’s course attracts a diverse group of students — even non-music majors without any prior musical training. Whittenburg enjoys playing as a part of the gamelan ensemble “because it is a relaxing way to gain insight on a new culture while simultaneously adding new depth to my understanding of music.”

— Allison Cruz ’18

Learn more about cultural performances at UMBC

Images by Marlayna Demond ’11, Video by Allison Cruz ’18

Audition Call for Deep Vision Dance Company on Sunday, June 10th at 4pm

Location: Towson University, Center for the Arts, room 1006 (Parking available along Cross Campus drive or in Union Garage across street)

Baltimore-based Deep Vision Dance Company seeks dancers for their upcoming 2018-2019 performance season. Candidates must show advanced proficiency in modern dance, partnering, and improvisation and love immersion in creative, collaborative processes.

Full company and apprenticeship positions available. Performance stipends offered.

UMBC’s upcoming commencement ceremonies — held for the first time in the new UMBC Event Center — will highlight three honorary degree recipients nationally recognized as top leaders in their fields.

On Wednesday, May 23, Erin O’Shea, president of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), will speak at UMBC’s graduate commencement ceremony. O’Shea is the first woman to lead HHMI, a philanthropic research organization that studies how living things work. She is also a professor of molecular and cellular biology and of chemistry and chemical biology at Harvard University.

Under O’Shea’s leadership, HHMI is working to increase diversity and inclusion in STEM fields. She is committed to bringing a wide range of viewpoints and variety of approaches to problem solving, and sharing innovative approaches that institutions can use to support this work.

O’Shea holds a bachelor’s degree from Smith College in biochemistry, and a Ph.D. in chemistry from MIT. Before joining HHMI, O’Shea was the director of the Center for Systems Biology at Harvard University, and a faculty member at the University of California, San Francisco. She has been honored by numerous leading research and professional organizations, including the National Academy of Sciences, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, American Academy of Microbiology, American Society for Cell Biology, and National Academy of Inventors.

UMBC will host two undergraduate commencement ceremonies on Thursday, May 24. Ted Mitchell, president of the American Council on Education (ACE), will speak in the first ceremony, addressing graduates in UMBC’s College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, the School of Social Work, and the Erickson School.

Prior to serving as president of ACE, Mitchell was the president of Occidental College for six years, and served as U.S under secretary of education, where he oversaw postsecondary education policies and programs. He has also worked as chief executive officer of the NewSchools Venture Fund and served as the president of the California State Board of Education. He attended Stanford University, where he earned his bachelor’s, master’s and Ph.D. degrees.

In a recent Baltimore Sun article about UMBC President Freeman Hrabowski’s Lifetime Achievement Award from ACE, Mitchell called UMBC a “powerhouse engine of social mobility and academic excellence, particularly in the area of expanding the number of minority students pursuing degrees in the fields of science and technology.” President Hrabowski has also reflected on the unique growth opportunities that ACE provides to emerging leaders in higher education, describing the ACE Fellows program as “one of those rare opportunities in American higher education that focuses on experiences that can broaden a future leader” in Diverse magazine.

Paula A. Johnson, president of Wellesley College, will address undergraduates from the College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences, the College of Engineering and Information Technology, and interdisciplinary studies during UMBC’s second undergraduate commencement ceremony of May 24. Johnson attended Harvard University, where she earned her bachelor’s degree, M.D. and M.P.H. degrees. A cardiologist by training, Johnson is known globally for working to advance the education, health, and well-being of women through a highly interdisciplinary approach to her work.

Before being named president of Wellesley, Johnson served Brigham and Women’s Hospital as the Division of Women’s Health chief, and was the inaugural executive director of the Connors Center for Women’s Health and Gender Biology. Her dedication to improving healthcare access, delivery, and policy has improved the health of women around the world. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and National Academy of Medicine, and the National Library of Medicine has recognized Johnson as a leader in medicine.

UMBC will honor Johnson and O’Shea with honorary doctor of science degrees. Mitchell will be presented with an honorary doctor of public service degree.

Community members who are not able to attend the ceremonies in person can view them live through the commencement webcast or follow them on Twitter @UMBC and through #UMBCgrad. Videos of the remarks will also be available online after the ceremonies.