PURNAMASARI
  • About
  • Performances
Picture

ABOUT THE BAND

Purnamasari, led by Indonesian born, SF Bay Area singer-songwriter Lisa Graciano, integrates Indonesian gamelan instruments and ideas into original yet accessible guitar-based songs and compositions. Purnamasari features performers experienced in both gamelan and western music, mixing and extending traditional techniques. They create a unique musical fusion, using a variety of gamelan instruments and tuning systems, mixed with western instruments tuned to a pitch allowing interaction with the gamelan. Purnamasari grew out of the Indonesian American Cross Cultural Music Project, a collaboration between Lisa and gamelan player Paul Miller, and includes musicians Megan Hewitt, Patrick Liddell, Richard Phillips, Keenan Pepper, Nami Murata, and Julia Martin. Purnamasari means ‘Essence of the Full Moon. The band performed at the San Francisco International Arts Festival 2021, and the concert was also sponsored in part by grants from the Sam Mazza Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, and marked the release of Purnamasari’s concept album entitled Le Gong, available online at purnamasarimusic.bandcamp.com

Picture
Click below to find out more about the
INDONESIAN AMERICAN CROSS CULTURAL MUSIC PROJECT

Core Musicians

           Paul Miller

Picture
​

Paul Miller is a member of SF Bay Area gamelan groups Gamelan Sekar Jaya, Gadung Kasturi, Sari Raras, and Shadowlight Productions. He received a B.A. in music from Brandeis University, was introduced to gamelan at Mills College, and spent several years in Indonesia, learning Balinese gamelan with the late Wayang Loceng and other master musicians. He specializes in Gender Wayang music; several of his students have gone on to study with masters in Bali. Paul arranges the gamelan parts for Purnamasari and plays various gamelan instruments in the group.

                     Lisa Graciano

Picture
Lisa Graciano is a Bay Area performer and songwriter whose music has been featured on Voice of America's television program "Dunia Kita”, KPFA’s Music of the World, and Mz Dee's Medicine Show. Lisa had formal training in classical music in Singapore, was part of the alternative music scene in Manila, and spent years as a musician in the folk, jazz and blues music circuit in Amsterdam, where she recorded two albums. Lisa studied Balinese dance in Jakarta when she was young, and being involved with groups like Gamelan Sekar Jaya has deepened her knowledge of Balinese music and dance, and inspired her compositions for Purnamasari. Lisa's solo album “Seeds of Life” was released in 2013; recently she has appeared in the radio play 'Outcast of the Islands,' produced by By Mouth, and has been a regular performer in QuaranPalooza Livestream Music Fest.

Patrick Liddell

Picture
Patrick Liddell is a musician living in Oakland, CA. His solo music project, ontologist, has released five albums to date, most recently the double vinyl LP Cantor's Comb in June 2021. Patrick received his doctoral degree in music composition from Northwestern University. He collaborated with over 500 artists to create music videos to accompany the NYC "60x60" music series, and in 2011 gained international renown with his YouTube experiment "Video Room 1000", with millions of views and countless online articles on its cultural significance. He has performed and toured in Europe, Australia, Indonesia, and America with a number of outfits, including The Zvooks, Function Ensemble, Sari Raras, and Gamelan Encinal. He plays trombone in the soul/funk outfit Steady Eddy and the Shakers, and teaches concert and jazz band to high schoolers in Dublin, CA. Patrick is the bass player for Purnamasari.

                               Megan Hewitt

Picture
Megan Robin Hewitt PhD is an Oakland-based musician, documentary filmmaker, Indonesian/Malay translator, and Executive Director of the non-profit American Institute for Indonesian Studies (AIFIS). She first learned Balinese gamelan at Florida State University, which became part of her impetus to pursue a graduate degree in Indonesian Studies at UC Berkeley. Her research on Indonesian literature, performing arts and contemporary social movements led to her involvement with the community of Indonesian artists and musicians in the Bay Area. Megan joined Gamelan Sekar Jaya and later Purnamasari, and is thrilled to perform among a thriving community working to bring Indonesian arts into the contemporary music scene in the Bay Area. Megan and her partner, Garna Raditya, create music as the indie rock duo Antaralain. Antaralain translates to AmongOthers, the name of their video production and translation agency that creates short video documentaries, often with an emphasis on cross cultural Indonesian-American connections. Megan plays gamelan instruments and sings harmony with Purnamasari.

                                  Richard Phillips

Picture
Richard H. Phillips is a multi-instrumentalist musician, and the songwriter, guitarist and vocalist for Golden Path, an SF Bay Area indie rock band. He performs as half of a duet with musician and composer Barbara Golden, and plays Balinese gamelan music with Gamelan Sekar Jaya and Gadung Kasturi. Rick plays electric guitar for Purnamasari.

Picture
Picture

SOME MUSICIANS WHO HAVE PERFORMED WITH PURNAMASARI

Picture
Barbara Golden
Emily K Rolph
Made Putrayasa
Ed Garcia
Maurissa Dorn
Zach Hejny
Danny Martin
Mike Toth
John Foster
Kris Jones
Rick Auerbach
John Waller
Reiko Hasegawa

CONTACT   US

    Get in Touch!

Send
  • About
  • Performances