GAMELAN ANGKLUNG

The gamelan angklung is one of the most popular types of orchestras in Bali, requiring about twenty musicians. Tuned to a four-tone scale in slendro tuning, the gamelan angklung presents a cheerful, open, and rhythmically intricate musical landscape, expressed in the fluid grace of its traditional repertoire.

GAMELAN GONG KEBYAR

The gamelan gong kebyar is the most prevalent type of bronze orchestra in Bali, requiring about 25 musicians. It takes its name from the dynamic kebyar style which was born in the early twentieth century-a time of tumultuous political and social change, reflected in music of contrasting moods, and powerful, virtuosic character.

GAMELAN JEGOG

GSJ’s Gamelan Jegog is one of the only ensembles of its kind outside of Bali. Originating from Western Bali, it is an orchestra of bamboo marimbas, with keys (tubes) ranging from small to gigantic. The largest tubes, up to three meters long, are used for the bass jegogan, for which the ensemble is named.

GENDER WAYANG

Music for the Balinese shadow puppet theater (wayang) is provided by four musicians playing ten-keyed gender—one of Bali’s most technically challenging yet rewarding instruments. Because of its role in dramatic accompaniment, music for the Gender Wayang ensemble is wide ranging both in mood and character.

DANCE ENSEMBLE

Like Bali’s music traditions, Balinese dance encompasses a wide range of styles and forms. This is no surprise, since dance and music co-evolved and are seen as inseparable: Details of music and dance are tightly coordinated, and an ideal of perfect unity is sought in every gesture, nuance, expression, phrase, and rhythmic change.

Guest Dance Director:
I Made Suteja

Internationally acclaimed gambuh and mask dancer, I Made Suteja is more popularly known as “Made Cat” because he is also a talented traditional painter (“cat” meaning paint in Indonesian). He comes from a line of acclaimed masters in the arts of topeng and gambuh dance, and painting in Batuan, Bali. He began studying dance under his father, I Made Bukel, who in turn learned from his father, one of Bali’s most famous performers, I Nyoman Kakul. Made’s performance career started as a young baris dancer in the local temples and soon he was often invited to represent the Gianyar province in the Bali Arts Festival’s gong kebyar competitions. Starting in 2004, he began specializing in the topeng and gambuh traditions of his family’s dance school, Sanggar Satriya Lelana Batuan, and is now a frequent performer oftopeng pajegan. In addition to working for Satriya Lelana, he also performs in Gambuh Pura Desa Batuan, where he plays the characters of Arya, Kadean-Kadean, Panji and Prabu. With this group, he has toured Italy, Algeria, Poland, and Denmark, where he appeared in Odin Theater’s production of Hamlet under the direction of Eugenio Barba. Aside from dance, Made received his undergraduate degree in Fine Arts from Institut Seni Indonesia Denpasar and is a reputable artist in the traditional school of Batuan painting. His days are spent painting, performing, and teaching in his home, where many Balinese and international students come to learn topeng, baris, jauk, and gambuh dances.

Guest Music Director:
Ni Nyoman Srayamurtikanti

Ni Nyoman Srayamurtikanti, often called “Mang Sraya",” is the daughter of I Nyoman Suryadi, a natural artist, composer, and singer from Celuk Village in Sukawati, Gianyar, Bali. Srayamurtikanti has studied Balinese gamelan since elementary school from various master teachers, including her father, I Ketut Cater, I Made Subandi, and others. Her education has focused on the arts from her studies at SMKN 3 Sukawati, an arts specialty high school, and Denpasar’s Institute for Indonesian Arts (Institut Seni Indonesia or ISI Denpasar). Srayamurtikanti finished her master’s degree in music composition at the Surakarta branch of the Institute for Indonesian Arts in 2022, just before her GSJ residency. Srayamurtikanti is also the head of Sanggar S’mara Murti, originally founded by her father. Srayamurtikanti began composing in 2017, and her works are based on the intersection of tradition and innovation in Balinese arts. Srayamurtikanti has represented Indonesia at events across Southeast Asia, and her music has been featured in regional, national, and international events. In 2020, she was a featured guest in Gamelan Sekar Jaya’s Bali’s Living Arts speaker series.

Guest Music Director:
Ni Nyoman Srayamurtikanti

Srayamurtikanti is a gamelan musician who is currently pursuing her career as a composer. Srayamurtikanti is the daughter of I Nyoman Suryadi, a natural artist, composer, and singer from Celuk Village in Sukawati, Gianyar, Bali. Srayamurtikanti has studied Balinese gamelan since elementary school from various master teachers, including her father, I Ketut Cater, I Made Subandi, and others. Her education has focused on the arts from her studies at SMKN 3 Sukawati, an arts specialty high school, and Denpasar’s Institute for Indonesian Arts (Institut Seni Indonesia or ISI Denpasar). Srayamurtikanti finished her master’s degree in music composition at the Surakarta branch of the Institute for Indonesian Arts in 2022, just before her GSJ residency. Srayamurtikanti is also the head of Sanggar S’mara Murti, originally founded by her father. Srayamurtikanti began composing in 2017, and her works are based on the intersection of tradition and innovation in Balinese arts. Srayamurtikanti has represented Indonesia at events across Southeast Asia, and her music has been featured in regional, national, and international events. In 2020, she was a featured guest in Gamelan Sekar Jaya’s Bali’s Living Arts speaker series.

Guest Dance Director:
Cok Istri Putri Rukmini

Cok Pring is a respected dancer and teacher from Singapadu, Bali, Indonesia. Trained at an early age in her village, she later attended a specialty arts high school in Batubulan, Bali, and went on to complete her bachelor’s degree at Denpasar’s Institute for Indonesian Arts (Institut Seni Indonesia or ISI Denpasar, formerly known as STSI Denpasar) in 1996. Following her graduation from STSI, Cok Pring worked for the Ministry of Culture (Province of Bali) for five years. During that time, she remained active as a performer and teacher, winning numerous prizes and honors from regional and national sources. Cok Pring has toured widely in Southeast Asia, including Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia, and she has performed in Spain, Australia, the United States, Japan, and Great Britain. Cok Pring currently maintains a busy teaching schedule from her home in Singapadu, where she trains and coaches Balinese and international students in dance and arja, a Balinese dance-drama tradition.

Guest Music Director:
Ni Nyoman Srayamurtikanti

Srayamurtikanti is a gamelan musician who is currently pursuing her career as a composer. Srayamurtikanti is the daughter of I Nyoman Suryadi, a natural artist, composer, and singer from Celuk Village in Sukawati, Gianyar, Bali. Srayamurtikanti has studied Balinese gamelan since elementary school from various master teachers, including her father, I Ketut Cater, I Made Subandi, and others. Her education has focused on the arts from her studies at SMKN 3 Sukawati, an arts specialty high school, and Denpasar’s Institute for Indonesian Arts (Institut Seni Indonesia or ISI Denpasar). Srayamurtikanti finished her master’s degree in music composition at the Surakarta branch of the Institute for Indonesian Arts in 2022, just before her GSJ residency. Srayamurtikanti is also the head of Sanggar S’mara Murti, originally founded by her father. Srayamurtikanti began composing in 2017, and her works are based on the intersection of tradition and innovation in Balinese arts. Srayamurtikanti has represented Indonesia at events across Southeast Asia, and her music has been featured in regional, national, and international events. In 2020, she was a featured guest in Gamelan Sekar Jaya’s Bali’s Living Arts speaker series. This residency will be Srayamurtikanti’s first visit to the United States.

guest music director:
I DEWA PUTU RAI

I Dewa Putu Rai is an internationally recognized teacher, performer, and composer of traditional gamelan music from the village of Pengosekan in Bali, Indonesia. A graduate of the Indonesian Institute of the Arts in Denpasar, Indonesia’s premiere higher education institution for Balinese traditional performing arts, Pak Dewa Rai has performed and had his compositions premiered on stages from Bali to Japan to the United States. He is now a musical leader of Gamelan Cudamani, one of Bali’s most active and respected performing ensembles. Cofounded by Pak Dewa Rai and his brother, I Dewa Putu Berata, Gamelan Cudamani is known for its central role in preserving Bali’s vanishing performing arts traditions, and for welcoming women into the traditionally male-dominated field of gamelan musicianship.

Guest Dance Director:
EMIKO SARASWATI SUSILO

Emiko Saraswati Susilo is a choreographer, dancer, voice actor and vocalist known for her dynamic and soulful performance and for choreography that delves into questions of the contemporary world through work that is at once innovative and yet deeply rooted in tradition. She has been active in Balinese and Javanese performance for well over three decades; she began playing gamelan as a child and studied Balinese and Javanese dance under Ni Made Wiratini and the late master KRT Sasmintadipura. She has taught Balinese dance since 1992, and in 1997 became a founding member of Cudamani, where she is now Associate Director. Her work with Cudamani, one of Bali’s finest performing ensembles, has inspired many young Balinese women to study gamelan, and the organization’s accomplishments in this arena are truly historic. Susilo also works with Cudamani’s renowned company dancers, whom she often prepares for regional competition, performances at the esteemed Bali Arts Festival, and international touring.

I Wayan Suweca

The late I Wayan Suweca was one of Bali’s most brilliant musicians. He was born in 1948 in Kayu Mas, a banjar (hamlet) in Bali's capital city, Denpasar. Along with his siblings, Pak Suweca began studying Balinese music with his father I Wayan Konolan, a renowned performer and staff musician in the “all-star” resident gamelan at Radio Republik Indonesia. Growing up Pak Suweca met and learned from many musicians in his father’s generation, from all over Bali. He internalized their styles, and became an expert with broad experience. Known for the fluency and endless variations of his drumming techniques, he was also a master of the intricate music of gender wayang, gamelan accompaniment to shadow puppet theater and many rituals. Pak Suweca studied formally at the national performing arts academy in Denpasar. He performed throughout Asia, Europe, and the United States. In 1974, he received a Rockefeller grant to teach Balinese music at Brown University and taught at the Center for World Music, UCLA, UC Berkeley, San Francisco State, Loyola University and the University of Montreal, as well as in places all over Bali. In 1979 he co-founded Sekar Jaya and was its resident teacher for two years, until he returned to Bali in 1981 to take up a teaching post at ISI. In Sekar Jaya's collective memory, it was Pak Suweca’s commitment and belief in the group during its formative years that inspired so many, and accounts for Sekar Jaya’s staying power. After his retirement, his daughter Putu Hartini carried on his legacy as a teacher at ISI. Up until his recent passing, Pak Suweca remained active as a performer, teacher, instrument merchant, and composer of new works for gamelan. He passed away on May 22, 2023. Friends, family and the broader community will always hold him with great esteem and gratitude in their hearts.

rACHEL COOPER

Rachel Cooper studied at UCLA in World Arts and Cultures and Dance Ethnology and then lived in Indonesia from 1981-88. She co-directed the Festival of Indonesia In Performance 1990-92, bringing together over 200 performers on 12 different tours across the United States. She is widely recognized as a leader in arts and culture and was the head of Asia Society’s renowned performing arts and cultural programs department for 27 years prior to taking her current position as the Director of Culture as Diplomacy. She has produced and toured over 1,000 performances and developed new collaborative projects between Asia and the United States. Cooper received the Global Citizen Diplomacy Award for Best Practice in the Arts , Dawson Award for Programmatic Excellence, Manhattan Award for Preserving Cultural Diversity in New York City, and a Rockefeller MAP award for choreography. She serves on the boards of Cambodian Living Arts, and American Indonesian Cultural Foundation.

Michael Tenzer

Michael Tenzer studied at Yale University and UC Berkeley. He was Sekar Jaya’s Musical Director from 1983-86. From 1986 to 1996 he taught at Yale before becoming Professor of Music at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, where he teaches ethnomusicology, composition, music theory and gamelan performance, and co-directs the doctoral program in ethnomusicology. He composes for Balinese gamelan as well as for western orchestra and chamber ensembles, and is the author of Balinese Gamelan Music (Periplus 2011), Gamelan Gong Kebyar: The Art of Twentieth Century Balinese Music (University of Chicago Press: 2000) and other books and articles on the musics of the world. In Vancouver he has directed Gamelan Gita Asmara since 1996, a community ensemble modeled after Gamelan Sekar Jaya.