NI LUH KADEK KUSUMA DEWI, director of dance for Gamelan Semara Santi, has been studying Balinese dance since 1988. She currently studies and performs with Gamelan Mitra Kusuma in Washington D.C. In addition to teaching Balinese dance at Swarthmore, she also teaches at the Eastman School of Music.
I NYOMAN SUADIN, co-director of Gamelan Semara Santi, began studying Balinese
dance and music at the age of seven and received formal training at KOKAR, the
Conservatory for the Performing Arts in Denpasar, Bali. He has traveled and
performed throughout the United States since 1988. Mr. Suadin is the Founder
and Artistic Director of Gamelan Mitra Kusumain
Washington, DC. He also teaches at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester,
N.Y., and at the University of Maryland. In the fall of 2005 he will add Cornell
University to this list.
THOMAS WHITMAN, founder and co-director of Gamelan Semara Santi, was principally
trained in western music (cello, viola da gamba, composition, and theory). He
began studying Balinese music in 1986 as a Luce Scholar in Indonesia, where
his primary teacher was the late I Madé Gerindem. He subsequently studied
Balinese music with Michael Tenzer, I Wayan Rai, and his current teacher, I
Nyoman Suadin. He has taught at Swarthmore College since 1990. Since the fall
of 2004 he has also led the Chester
Children's Gamelan Project.
For more information about his work as a composer, click
here.