Community: Playing gamelan to learn Indonesian

John-Cheong Holdaway believes that by playing gamelan people can learn  Indonesian. Collingwood Town Hall, Melbourne - Nov 2025 (SBS Indonesian).

John-Cheong Holdaway believes that by playing gamelan people can learn Indonesian. Collingwood Town Hall, Melbourne - Nov 2025 (SBS Indonesian). Credit: John Cheong Holdaway

In November 2025, GamelandAnanda hosted a gamelan meeting, which was attended by nine gamelan groups from Victoria. The purpose of this event is to promote traditional instrumental music in Java and Bali, which includes percussion instruments as well.


John-Cheong Holdaway, one of the organizing committee, is a musician, creative producer, and economist.

She told SBS Indonesian about her love and joy of playing gamelan.

He believes that by playing gamelan, people can also learn Indonesian.

John-Cheong Holdaway argues that school teachers in Australia, may be able to develop this approach.

There are a number of schools in Victoria that have introduced gamelan to their students. And of course gamelan communities like GamelandanYou will be happy to help them.

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