GSJ’s mission is to foster artistic exchange between Bali and the United States through residencies, workshops, performances, and the creation of innovative new works of music and dance; and to share the excitement of this exchange with diverse audiences in California, the US, and abroad.
The word gamelan refers to several types of ensembles comprised of bronze, iron, wood, and/or bamboo percussion instruments, found throughout the Indonesian islands of Bali and Java. Gamelan Sekar Jaya is comprised of four kinds of gamelan —currently including angklung, gong kebyar, jegog, and gender wayang—as well as a dance ensemble. True to the Balinese tradition, GSJ musicians and dancers learn through direct imitation and training from teachers, without the aid of notation. In various combinations, these ensembles have presented over five hundred concerts in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.
If you are interested in booking one of GSJ’s ensembles at your venue or event, please contact us. In addition to concert performances and classes at our Berkeley banjar, GSJ also hosts extensive educational programs. We offer workshops and classes in Bay Area schools and community centers, bringing the Balinese arts to diverse local audiences.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
For the spring and fall seasons of 2025, Gamelan Sekar Jaya will enjoy the special gift of being led by a team of three dynamic performing artists who have worked alongside each other for over thirty-six years as the directors of Semara Ratih from Ubud, Bali. They have performed together in thousands of performances, collaborated on dozens of new dance and music creations, produced numerous audio and video recordings, and toured overseas with their troupe across Europe and Asia.
Dr. Anak Agung Anom Putra, S.S.T. is a dancer, choreographer, teacher, artistic director, performance jurist, and arts theorist from Ubud, Bali, Indonesia who has won many awards and accolades. In 2022 the government of Bali awarded Gung Anom the island’s highest honor for performing artists, the Adi Sewaka Nugraha Award. Early in his career he was a star dancer with the venerable ensemble Gamelan Gunung Sari of Peliatan and won the island-wide award for Baris (he is still known as “Anom Baris”). He is an outstanding all-around male dancer and teaches both male and female dance. Gung Anom is the director of Semara Ratih of Ubud, which he founded in 1988 with fellow graduate students and faculty of the national arts institute in Bali. He serves on juries judging Jauk, Barong, Baris, and other dance competitions and is a lecturer at the Hindu University of Indonesia and an occasional guest lecturer at ISI, the Indonesian Arts Institute. He holds a doctorate degree in the religious aesthetic power of the Baris Tunggal dance.
Ayu Sukmawati, S.H., from Ubud, Bali, Indonesia, is a dancer and choreographer who specializes in classic Balinese female roles and is the dance director of Semara Ratih, which she helped found. From a young age, she performed with Gamelan Gunung Sari of Peliatan, following in the footsteps of her mother, Ni Gusti Ayu Rai, and her aunt, Ni Gusti Ayu Raka Rasmi, who was the famous first dancer (with I Sampih) of the classic Oleg Tamulilingan dance. She studied with the esteemed leader of Gunung Sari, Anak Agung Gede Mandera, and is one of the several great dancers of her generation from Peliatan. As a young dancer, Bu Ayu won first prize in the island-wide dance competitions for Oleg and Belibis and in the district-wide Legong Pelayon competition. She specializes in Legong, Oleg, and Teruna Jaya and stands out for the astonishing dramatic power of her dance. For the 2002 Gong Kebyar Festival and competition, she served as the master teacher for the first-place winning Legong dancers.
I Ketut Cater, S.Sn., comes from a family of musicians in the famous musical village of Banjar Pinda, Saba, Bali, Indonesia, where he studied with and carries on the musical heritage of the famed drummer I Wayan Tembres, one of Gamelan Sekar Jaya’s earliest teachers. Pak Cater is constantly sought after as a composer, performer, teacher, and performance jurist in Bali and internationally and has won dozens of awards and honors. Each year since the early 1990s he has composed and served as a master teacher for groups in Bali’s annual Gong Kebyar Festival, where his compositions have won first prize. A founding member and the music director of Semara Ratih, he has led them to first-place rankings in major festivals. He can be seen leading the group in this video with over seven million views. He is known as a superb drummer, particularly for his accompaniments for the Jauk, Baris, and Barong dances. Pak Cater also teaches at SMKI, the high school of the arts in Bali, and the Agung Rai Museum of Art.
I Gede Oka Artha Negara is the founder and director of Gamelan Artha Negara in Santa Cruz, California. He is an accomplished composer, musician, choreographer and dancer from Bali, Indonesia. From 1992-Present he was the Associate Artistic Director and a leading performer in Gamelan Jegog Suar Agung in Bali acknowledged as one of the finest and most influential Jegog ensembles in Bali.
Gede Oka has taught and performed internationally. Some of his career highlights have been leading Jegog Suar Agung to prominent festivals throughout Indonesia and abroad such as the International Gamelan Festival in Amsterdam, Holland (2007). He performed with Suar Agung for the opening of the 2008 World Cup in France, has toured in Japan many times, and danced as an independent artist in Singapore and Thailand. He has invited to the United States twice, first in 2010 as a guest musical director with Gamelan Sekar Jaya in Oakland, CA and then in 2011 to perform with Song of Dharma for the opening of the Bali Exhibit at San Francisco's Asian Art Museum.
He began studying Balinese performing arts as a child in West Bali in the village of Sangkar Agung, Negara, under the tutelage of his father I Ketut Suwentra, a renowned artist and the founder and director of Suar Agung. He continued his studies at ISI (Bali's National Academy of the Arts) and got his Master of Arts at UCSC (University California Santa Cruz) where he specialized in composition and bamboo music. Gede considers it his mission to spread appreciation and knowledge of Gamelan music, dance, and culture around the globe.
Photograph taken by Lynda Roti
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.
Photograph taken by Arvian Heidir
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.
Photograph taken by Melati Citrawireja
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Photograph taken by Abbas Razaghpanah
Shoko Yamamuro began her studies of Balinese dance as a child while living with her family in Jakarta, Indonesia. After graduating from the Japan Women's College of Physical Education and studying Balinese dance for over ten years, she received a scholarship from the Indonesian government to enter ISI in Denpasar. During this period she gained a reputation as one of the only foreign students capable of performing both male and female dance styles. Yamamuro now resides permanently in the San Francisco Bay Area and regularly teaches and performs with Gamelan Sekar Jaya. Her son and daughter, ages three and seven, are showing interest in becoming GSJ’s youngest members!
Suliati Boentaran, Co-Chair
Lisa Ho, Co-Chair
Susanna Benningfield, President
Junichi Shimaoka, Vice President
Todd Greenspan, Treasurer
Emily Rolph, Secretary
Rachel Cooper, Co-Founder
Michael Tenzer, Co-Founder
James Hogan, Founding Member
I Wayan Dibia
Bruce Pickering
Suzanne Siskel
Rebecca Selin
Samuel Wantman
Charlie Boyd Brown, Operations Manager (interim)
Davina Nova Suselo, Program and Administrative Assistant
From left to right: Michael Tenzer, I Wayan Suweca and Rachel Cooper after a performance of Tenzer’s Talakalam at Fort Mason, San Francisco, in 1999
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 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 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.
