Director Biographies

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 Kusuma in Washington, DC. He also teaches at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y., the University of Maryland, and Bard College, and is a regular guest artist with Balinese gamelans throughout the United States.

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.  For more information about his work as a composer, please visit http://www.twhitman.com.