I Wayan Suweca

Who is I Wayan Suweca?

Wayan Suweca is one of the most highly respected performers of Balinese gamelan. Since the 1970s, he taught and performed extensively around Asia, Europe and America. In the early 1980s, along with his students Michael Tenzer and Rachel Ann Cooper, he founded and led the famous Sekar Jaya gamelan ensemble in Berkeley, California. In 1993, he cofounded the ensemble Giri Kedaton in Montreal. From 1982 to 2004, he was professor at the National Arts Academy of Indonesia in Bali. From 1987 to 1993, he was a guest teacher at Université de Montréal in Canada and in Rochester, USA. Among his students were also William Winant, André Éric Létourneau, Michael Tenzer and Sandra Wong.

I Wayan Suweca received many awards and commissions from several foundations, galleries and art organisations. In 1992, he was commissioned by Diffusion Système Minuit du Québec to create a "kreasi baru kontemporer" entitled "Cyclus Kahidupan". The work was created at galerie Articule and was simultaneously broadcast on CKUT radio in Montreal, Canada. He directed the Gamelan de l'Université de Montréal's special concert for the anniversary of Paris International Exhibition in 1989, which was broadcast on Radio-Canada and Radio-France. He is also a noted composer, a kendang performer, and a renowned gamelan gender wayang performer. He appears on more than thirty CDs for labels such as Bali Records and Nonesuch. Since 2006, he has been working on a new wayang kulit project and intensely researching the traditional Balinese singing.