In 1986, as the result of efforts made by Professor José Evangelista, the Indonesian government made the Faculty of Music a gift of two gamelans (angklung and gong kebyar). The composer then devised a workshop whose goal was to introduce students to this Asian art. Indonesian teachers, moreover, were invited to the Faculty to give the first classes of this kind in Québec.

Since then the Université de Montréal Atelier de gamelan has given a number of concerts in the country, notably at the New Music America festival, the Festival international des rythmes du monde, the Dartmouth International Festival and the World 92 series in Toronto.

Out of the enthusiasm generated by the Atelier de gamelan, the ensemble Giri Kedaton, in residence at the Faculty of Music, was founded in 1994. I Putu Arya Deva Suryanegara is currently responsible for leading the Atelier de gamelan in close collaboration with Giri Kedaton, co-directed by Pierre Paré-Blais and I Dewa Made Suparta.