Artists-in-Residence
I Made Lasmawan
Balinese drummer and composer I Made Lasmawan (b. 1958) was born in the village of Bangah, in the Baturiti region of the regency of Tabanan, Bali, Indonesia. Strongly influenced by his family and involved in the arts since childhood, he graduated from KOKAR (Conservatory for Traditional Performing Arts) in Denpasar, Bali in 1977. He studied traditional Javanese music at STSI (Indonesian College of the Arts) in Surakarta (Solo), Central Java, where he received his Traditional Indonesian Music degree in 1983.
Pak Lasmawan has since traveled throughout the world, including Belgium, France, England, Singapore, Japan, and Mexico. He is a prolific composer who taught Balinese music at STSI from 1983 until 1990, when he was invited to San Diego State University to teach Javanese and Balinese music. Living in Colorado since 1993 as Artist-in Residence with Gamelan Tunas Mekar, Pak Lasmawan is a Lecturer at Colorado College where he directs their gamelan ensembles and teaches courses on Balinese and Indonesian music and Hindu epics in music. He also directs gamelan ensembles at Metropolitan State University of Denver, the University of Colorado, Boulder, the University of Wyoming in Laramie, and throughout the Rocky Mountains. He regularly performs as a guest artist and director with university and college gamelans across the United States. Pak Lasmawan plays a leading role in both Bali and the US as the founder and director of Sanggar Manik Galih, developing community gamelan groups for Balinese, diasporic Indonesians, and Westerners.
Pak Lasmawan is accompanied in the United States by his wife, Ni Ketut Marni, and his sons, I Putu Tangkas Adi Hiranmayena, I Made Tangkas Ade Wijaya, and I Nyoman Tangkas Aji Guyasa.
Ni Ketut Marni
Ni Ketut Marni was born in the village of village of Kebon in the town of Singapadu, district of Gianyar, Bali. Born into a family of traditional dancers and musicians, Ni Ketut has studied Balinese dance from a very young age. She graduated from SMKI, the Traditional School of Performing Arts in Denpasar, Bali with a major in Dance, and has performed for TVRI (Television of the Republic of Indonesia). She first performed with Gamelan Tunas Mekar at the Bali Arts Festival in Denpasar in 1996. Ni Ketut teaches with her husband Pak Made and resides with him in Colorado Springs, Colorado where she instructs the Colorado College Gamelan Tunjung Sari dance program. She has performed Balinese and Javanese dance in Indonesia, Taiwan, Japan, and the United States, and directs the Balinese dance program for Sanggar Manik Galih.
I Made Tangkas Ade Wijaya
I Made Tangkas Ade Wijaya (b.1999) graduated from the University of Denver with a double major in Criminology and Cultural Anthropology, and received his M.A.S. in Criminology from UC Irvine. A skilled Balinese gamelan musician and composer, Wijaya’s compositional style is inspired by strong traditional musical styles. He is faculty at Metropolitan State University of Denver, where he directs Gamelan Manik Kusuma, and an Artist-in-Residence with Gamelan Tunas Mekar.
I Nyoman Tangkas Aji Guyasa
I Nyoman Tangkas Aji Guyasa (b. 2001) received his Physical Therapist Assistant Associate Degree from Pima Medical Institute. Like his older brothers, he was raised on gamelan.
I Putu Tangkas Adi Hiranmayena
I Putu Tangkas Adi Hiranmayena (b. 1989) is an Indonesian artist scholar from Java and Bali, Indonesia. He is interested in creating artistic works that interrogate discursive conceptions of noise and highlight social injustices. As a practitioner, composer, and ethnographer, Hiranmayena’s research focuses on the reclamation of Indigenous identity through popular idioms. He is currently Assistant Professor of Music (Performance and Creativity) at Grinnell College, Iowa. In his off time, Hiranmayena enjoys mountain biking, skateboarding, tennis, and a good pint of micro-brew.