LEWISTON — Guest artists from Indonesia, an Indonesian-style dancer from California and a Maine composer will all have a part in Bates College’s Gamelan Orchestra concert on Saturday, March 31.

Joining the orchestra, which plays traditional Indonesian gamelan instruments, are drummer-composer Wahyu Roche and dancer Achmad Farmis, both of Indonesia, and dancer Ben Arcangel.

The orchestra makes music with percussion — drums, tuned gongs and polyphonic instruments like xylophones and metallophones — as well as bamboo flutes, stringed instruments and occasionally voice.

The ensemble, directed by Gina Fatone, associate professor of music, plays music from West Java (Sunda) and Central Java.

The program includes “Tango Tanggung,” a piece for gamelan instruments and cello by Philip Carlsen, professor of music at the University of Maine at Farmington.

Farmis, visiting Bates for the first time, specializes in “pencak silat,” an Indonesian dance style influenced by martial arts. Fatone says her gamelan musicians will have to respond on their instruments to Farmis’ dance steps.

“Accompanying dance is a dramatically different way of interfacing with the music, and requires the development of more highly nuanced skills,” she says.

Farmis will perform with Arcangel in “Hanuman’s Revenge,” a scene from the ancient Hindu epic “Ramayana.” In a solo presentation, Arcangel will perform a traditional masked dance from the genre “topeng cirebon.”

Farmis has received numerous awards for his work in performance and composition, and represents Indonesia in cultural delegations throughout the world. He has performed and taught regularly in the United States for years, and is associated with the California-based Indonesian ensemble Harsonari.

Roche is classically trained in gamelan drumming and singing. As a performer and teacher, he has performed in the United States, Australia, Singapore and Germany. As a member of the influential group Jugala, he opened for Mick Jagger during a 1989 concert in Jakarta.

The performance will begin at 8 p.m. at Olin Arts Center, 75 Russell St. Admission is free, although tickets are required due to limited seating. For more information, call 786-6135 or email olinarts@bates.edu.

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