Sumarsam

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Sumarsam
Birth nameSumarsam
BornDander, Bojonegoro, East Java, Indonesia
GenresGamelan
Occupation(s)
performer
Years active1951–present
Websitehttp://gamelan.blogs.wesleyan.edu/

Sumarsam (born 27 July 1944) is a Javanese musician and scholar of the gamelan.[1][2][3]

Life

Sumarsam was born in

Canberra, Australia. Afterwards he moved to the United States to become a visiting artist at Wesleyan University
.

Inspired by Western academia, he pursued a master's degree in world music from Wesleyan University from 1974 to 1976. He graduated with the thesis "Inner Melody in Javanese Gamelan." He continued teaching and performing at various universities in the United States, and was made an artist-in-residence at Wesleyan in 1976.

From 1983 he began working on a Ph.D. from Cornell University in ethnomusicology and Southeast Asian Studies. His thesis was "Historical Contexts and Theories of Javanese Music." It was later revised and published as Gamelan: Cultural Interaction and Musical Development in Central Java.[4][5]

He was made adjunct professor at Wesleyan in 1992, University Professor in 2011, and Professor of Music in 2016,[6][7][8] where he now (2017) serves as Winslow-Kaplan Professor of Music. In September 2017, the Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture is honoring him with a Cultural and Traditional Arts Maestro Award (Satyalancana Kebudayaan).[9]

Publications

  • Sumarsan (1984), "Inner Melody in Javanese Gamelan", in Becker, Judith; Feinstein, Alan (eds.), Source Readings in Javanese Gamelan and Vocal Music, vol. 1, Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Center for South and Southeast Asian Studies,
  • Sumarsan (1995) [1992]. Gamelan: Cultural Interaction and Musical Development in Central Java. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. .
  • Sumarsan (2004), "Opportunity and Interaction: The Gamelan from Java to Wesleyan", in Solís, Ted (ed.), Performing Ethnomusicology, University of California Press,

References

  1. ^ "Wesleyan professors presents two evenings of Indonesian shadow". Bates College. 22 January 2003.
  2. ^ Samarsam (17 October 2008). "Gambang" (video). Wesleyan University. Retrieved 5 November 2012.
  3. ^ Samarsam (17 October 2008). "Gender". Wesleyan University. Archived from the original (video) on 6 November 2013. Retrieved 5 November 2012.
  4. .
  5. .
  6. ^ Archived 21 September 2017 at the Wayback Machine[dead link]
  7. ^ "Sumarsam, Prof.: University Professor of Music". Wesleyan University. Archived from the original on 6 November 2012. Retrieved 5 November 2012.
  8. ^ Drake, Olivia (29 November 2016). "Board of Trustees Confers Tenure on 4 Faculty". Wesleyan University. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
  9. ^ Drake, Olivia (18 September 2017). "Sumarsam Honored for Contributing, Fostering Traditional Indonesian Culture". News@Wesleyan. Wesleyan University. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
  • Sumarsam. Gamelan: Cultural Interaction and Musical Development in Central Java. The preface contains autobiographical details.

External links