CAL PERFORMANCES PRESENTS PROGRAM

Saturday, September 26, 2009, 8pm Sunday, September 27, 2009, 7pm Zellerbach Hall A House in Based on the memoir by Colin McPhee (American Premiere)

Bang on a Can All-Stars & Salukat

Music by Direction by Jay Scheib Choreography by Kadek Dewi Aryani and I Nyoman Catra

Libretto by Paul Schick, after Colin McPhee’s A House in Bali and texts by Margaret Mead and Additional dialogue and lyrics by Evan Ziporyn

c a s t (in order of appearance) Christine Marc Molomot Colin McPhee Kadek Dewi Aryani Penari, Rantun, Camplung, Lèyak Produced by in association with Airplane Ears Music. Desak Madé Suarti Laksmi Penari, Ibu, Penyanyi Kekawin I Nyoman Catra Kesyur, Bapak, Kalér, Sagami Producer Kenny Savelson, Bang on a Can Timur Bekbosunov Walter Spies Co-producer & Production Manager Christine Southworth, Airplane Ears Music Anne Harley Margaret Mead Assistant Director & Stage Manager Laine Rettmer Nyoman Triyana Usadhi Sampih Assistant Musical Director Thomas Carr Live Camera AKA o r c h e s t r a There will be one 15-minute intermission. Bang on a Can All-Stars Evan Ziporyn, conductor Robert Black, bass; Andrew Cotton, sound engineer; David Cossin, percussion; All music ©2009 Airplane Ears Music (ASCAP). The score toA House in Bali contains references and small quotations Felix Fan, cello; Derek Johnson, guitar; Todd Reynolds, violin; Ning Yu, from Colin McPhee’s Kinesis, his Music in Bali trancriptions of Pemungkah (gamelan gender , attributed to I Wayan Lotring) and Sekar Gadung (gamelan , anonymous). Short fragments of Gamelan Salukat Belaluan’s 1928 Curik Ngaras (transcribed by Evan Ziporyn) and traditional Baris are also referenced. Dewa Ketut Alit, director Act 2 Scene 3 includes improvisations in traditional kekawin style by Desak Madé Suarti Laksmi. A A Bagus Gede Krishna P S, Cok Agung Sedana, I Dewa Gede Agra Kusuma, I Dewa Gede Arta The libretto contains numerous quotations from Colin McPhee’s A House in Bali as well as selected quotations from Yasa, I Gede Alan Arthana, I Gusti Ketut Muliawan, I Gusti Nyoman Darta, I G Putu Alit Indrawan Walter Spies’s Briefe and Margaret Mead’s Balinese Character. Mataram, I Kadek Agus Tirsa, I Made Supriadi, I P Adisepta Suweca Putra, I Putu Okto Saputra, I Wayan Diana Putra, I Wayan Eka Sutawan, I Wayan Galung Marwanaya These performances are made possible, in part, by Patron Sponsors Liz and Greg Lutz.

Andrew Cotton Sound Design A House in Bali is also made possible by generous support from the NIB Foundation, Alex Rigopulos & Sachi Sato, Sara Brown Scenic Design and Cal Performances. A House in Bali was commissioned by Real Time Opera with support from Peter Ksander Lighting Design the LEF Foundation, the Argosy Foundation, The Byrne Foundation and the NIB Foundation. Oana Botez-Ban Costume Design Jay Scheib and AKA Video Design Cal Performances’ 2009–2010 season is sponsored by Wells Fargo Bank.

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A House in Bali About A House in Bali

6. Masiram Ring Tukad (“River Bathing”). McPhee ighty years ago, “quite by accident,” Colin and Spies come upon village boys bathing in EMcPhee, a young Canadian study- the Ayung River. A flash flood suddenly surges ing in Paris, heard a scratchy recording of Balinese through the valley, and McPhee is saved by the gamelan. He traveled to Bali shortly thereafter, boy Sampih, who guides him to shore. Taken with accompanied by his wife, anthropologist Jane the boy, McPhee asks to have his parents brought Belo. Returning to Paris six months later, McPhee to him. found himself culturally alienated and artistically blocked, and resolved to go back, to document the a c t t w o music before it was too late. “Such music cannot survive much longer,” he wrote. The couple re- 1. Simpang (“The Visit”). Sampih and parents visit turned to Bali for two extended residencies, from

Christine Southworth Christine the house, where McPhee offers to give the boy em- 1932–1935 and again from 1937–1938. ployment. After some reticence and various mis- They were part of a small enclave of Westerners a c t o n e understandings, Spies suggests that McPhee offer living in Bali at the time. Aside from scattered to take Sampih for a ride in his car, at which point Dutch administrators, most of these orbited 1. Paris 1932. Composer Colin McPhee has re- Sampih overcomes his shyness and agrees to join around Denpasar or the nearby beach towns of turned to Paris following his first short trip to Bali. the household. Kuta and Sanur, where tourism was nascent. A no- Blocked artistically and alienated from Western table exception was German painter Walter Spies, culture, he realizes he must return to the island to 2. Dance Lessons. The cook Rantun attempts un- who had befriended the King of , a small vil- document the traditional music. successfully to teach the boy how to do various lage in central Bali, and built a house just outside household tasks, but he is too energetic and dis- it, on the banks of the Tjampuhan River. Spies was

2. Dance Interlude: Bali Tiba (“Arrival in Bali”). tractable to concentrate. McPhee offers to arrange a Zelig-like figure, a composer as well as a paint- Southworth Christine for Sampih to have dance lessons, and summons er, born to German diplomats in St. Petersburg. traveled extensively, attending temple cer- 3. Sayan Ridge. McPhee and his friend Kesyur ar- Nyoman Kalèr to teach him. This too proves di- Exiled to Central Asia during the First World War, emonies and trance rituals, and seeking out rive in the village of Sayan, where they survey the sastrous, and Spies suggests instead Camplung, he moved to Berlin in 1918, where he served as archaic ensembles in out-of-the-way moun- land and plan the house. Kesyur reminds McPhee a girl from Bedulu, who would be more patient Artistic Advisor for Murnau’s Nosferatu, and final- tain villages. Back in Sayan, he became an that it is the wrong season for building, and that he and attuned. She arrives and teaches Sampih ly landed a position as Kapellmeister to the Sultan artistic patron, organizing a children’s gamelan has not sought the approval of the villagers or the kebyar dance. of Yogyakarta. By 1927 he had decamped to Bali, and designing and purchasing a set of classical gods, but the construction proceeds nonetheless. where he adapted his mystical, naturalistic paint- semar pegulingan instruments, still in use today. 3. Departure. McPhee sleeps while Mead writes her ing style to the tropics. He soon began teaching A third presence, arriving in 1936, was 4. Wewangunan/Pangempetan (“Building/Barricade”). book, Balinese Character, and a traditional keka- and mentoring young Balinese painters, eventu- Margaret Mead, who with her husband Gregory The villagers build McPhee’s house, albeit at a win singer warns of bad tidings and war. Lèyak ally organizing the Pita Maha (“Our Ancestors”) Bateson resided to the north, in the small moun- tropical pace which baffles and infuriates McPhee. appear in the fields of Bongkasa, a sure sign of collective, which supported itself selling paint- tain village of Bayung Gede. There the couple doc- They then barricade him inside for violations of misfortune. McPhee then receives Sagami, a dis- ings first to tourists and later to the international umented the minutiae of everyday life on film and adat (“village law”). At first angered, he threatens quieting Japanese visitor, who may or may not be a art market. in photographs, which she included in her 1942 to go to the Dutch authorities; but, on Kesyur’s spy. Sampih has meanwhile become a polished per- McPhee, having lost all desire to compose book, Balinese Character. Mead found the Balinese advice, eventually agrees to join the banjar and former, which delights Spies but perturbs McPhee. his own music, undertook an exhaustive study inscrutable: In a 1937 letter, she described them as make annual contributions to the village. A house No longer able to control the boy, he realizes he of gamelan and immersed himself in Balinese “the least responsive people I have ever known.” ceremony begins as the scene ends. will always remain an outsider and must return to life. Presaging the “urban sprawl” that now over- McPhee, however, had no such difficulties: he America. He makes preparations to leave, direct- whelms the Ubud area, he built his own house one made numerous close friendships, platonic and 5. Fieldwork. McPhee transcribes gender wayang, ing Kesyur to dig up the flowers and plant them at river further out, on a ridge in the village of Sayan, otherwise (Belo divorced him in 1937). He formed Walter Spies paints, while Margaret Mead takes home. As he departs, a Dutch police officer arrives, overlooking the rapids of the Ayung River. (Spies’s a special attachment to a young boy, Sampih, who photographs and analyzes her data. All three muse arresting Spies on morality charges. house is now the Hotel Tjampuhan; McPhee’s had saved him from drowning in the river during in counterpoint on the nature of their research, was replaced by the Sayan Terrace Hotel, which a flash flood. McPhee brought the boy into his and on its relationship to Balinese culture. e p i l o g u e overlooks the Four Seasons Resort.) In addition to household, first as a domestic worker and then pro- voluminous gamelan transcriptions, McPhee also viding him with dance training.

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McPhee’s reasons for leaving Bali in 1938 were In America, McPhee is frankly a marginal fig- visually. Many of Mead’s photographs and films of the first meeting of Bang on a Can and Gamelan ambiguous, even by his own account. A combina- ure, but in Bali he looms large, particularly for the “everyday life” were clearly staged. Salukat—this past June, in a dusty rehearsal space tion of factors left him in a state of unease. War was hundreds of Western and musicians who Our opera telescopes the story: It is a single above the Ubud Market—will stand as one of the in the air, and he believed his house to be under have followed in his footsteps. I am one of those fol- journey, beginning with McPhee’s Parisian crisis most inspiring moments of my life. Soon there- surveillance by Japanese spies. Lèyak—rice field lowers, having had my own epiphany with Balinese and ending with his final departure. It balances on after, exactly three months ago tonight, we staged ghosts—had been spotted in the vicinity. Gamelan music in 1979, 50 years after McPhee. Unaware of that ridge between two cultures, each singing in the work outside the Puri Saraswati, a temple was changing in ways McPhee wasn’t sure he un- his story, I followed a similar path, throwing every- its own distinctive voice. We see the action both belonging to the present King of Ubud. The rain derstood or approved: “more and more the new thing aside to get to Bali, where I joined my own directly and through the camera lens, itself project- held off until moments after the performance, and kebyars seemed to resemble each other, seemed enclave of enraptured Westerners. I studied with ing images from both past and present, filtered— we all rode up to the cast party in a “villa” on Sayan intended only to dazzle and bewilder.” And his McPhee’s driver and confidante, I Madé Lebah, literally—to blur the distinction. Ridge itself, a stone’s throw from the house site. protégé Sampih was getting moody and unruly, who was happy to reminisce in his own highly Like McPhee, I have oscillated between two Staring across the river, where McPhee had him- “aware of his charm” and “in need of discipline.” selective and entertaining manner. For me, McPhee artistic worlds, West and East, for my whole adult self seen the lights of the lèyak demons, Nyoman Not mentioned in McPhee’s own writing was the is both role model and object lesson, someone life. Circumstance provided me with many more Usadhi, the 13-year-old who plays Sampih, saw the Dutch colonial authority’s crackdown on “immor- whose life—his triumphs and his tragedy, his avenues to bring them together than were avail- lights of the Four Seasons Resort. “Is that a hotel?” al behavior”—homosexuality, to be exact. Scores personal strengths and very human weaknesses— able to him; for me, this project is a culmination. he asked.... of white men were being rounded up, including I have contemplated for many years. Above all, it is thrilling to bring this particular Walter Spies, who was arrested just five days after His book is hardly driven by narrative—its collection of artists and designers together, and to Evan Ziporyn McPhee’s departure. The idyll was over; it was time charm is in the set piece, the idyllic meander. find ways for us all to work together meaningfully. to go home. Within it though is a tragic love story, not between Given the theme of this work—the tragedy of the He never went back. His post-Bali life was dif- two people but between two cultures. This is mir- in-between—this may seem ironic. Nonetheless, A House in Bali is dedicated to Charlotte Ziporyn. ficult, to say the least. Returning to New York, he rored in McPhee’s relationship with Sampih, in never was able to get his music or his career back on whom he sees everything he thinks he sees in Bali: track, and he struggled with alcoholism and depres- purity, effervescence, an unconscious outflowing sion. He had difficulty finishing his magnum opus, of grace and beauty, unencumbered by restrictions the encyclopedic Music in Bali, only completing it and taboos of Western culture. It’s in the eye of the months before his death in 1964. Meanwhile, both beholder. Walter Spies dove into Balinese culture Spies and Sampih met unfortunate ends: Spies with epicurean unselfconsciousness, apparently re- drowning in the Indian Ocean when a Dutch pris- maining sanguine even in prison; Mead came and on ship was sunk by the Japanese; Sampih brutally went as Apollonian observer, drawing her conclu- murdered upon his return from touring the world sions and moving on. McPhee is caught between with John Coast’s Dancers of Bali, which played these two extremes—as enamored as Spies, as dis- Broadway and Las Vegas in 1952. tant as Mead—and thus left on the ridge between McPhee’s memoir, A House in Bali, was pub- the two cultures, in the end “always remaining lished in 1946, with Mead helpfully providing a the outsider.” rave review in The New York Times. The book is Cross-cultural contact—almost by defini- a small gem, epigrammatic and insightful, witty tion—spans a gap between what one sees and how and wistful, pitch perfect in describing the feel of one is seen. This triangulates when viewed across being an outsider in a culture that is both more the generations: we admire and we disapprove familiar and far stranger than one could have an- through present-day filters. The constant is the re- ticipated. Its relation to actual events is intrigu- cording device: the wax cylinder, the paintbrush, ingly selective. His Western friends are pushed to the field notes, the camera. McPhee’s transcriptions the margins or excised altogether: Spies makes a are absolutely accurate but by definition cannot cameo appearance, but there is no mention—none capture the nuance and feeling that brings Balinese whatsoever!—of McPhee’s wife. Yet his descrip- gamelan to life. Spies’s gorgeous landscapes—emu- tions of sights and sounds are exactingly vivid, as lated by numerous Balinese painters—look like the are his accounts of conversations with the Balinese, Bali we see, but have nothing in common with the with whom he clearly had a deep rapport. ways the Balinese traditionally portray themselves

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A HOUSE IN BALI It is only too clear KESYUR McPHEE in it, dragging trees and bushes to pile in front of such music cannot survive In the north corner there will be a house temple, for your the entrance, and confronting him violently, using masks, much longer. ancestral gods chanting, etc. McPHEE is terrified, then angered.) ACT ONE A thousand forces are at work to destroy it, All buildings will have thatch roofs; all materials are to be The people of the island found on the island— (from McPhee, 82) SCENE 1—Paris 1932 still live an illusion of freedom, (from McPhee, 77–78) but have long since been caught in a net McPHEE KESYUR (in Balinese) that is now being slowly dragged in. —except for the floors, polished Borneo cement! The village elders met last night—you are being barricaded McPHEE for violating village law. They say you did not seek permis- Paris 1932 KESYUR sion before beginning construction. Also they say you used seems more on edge than last year. SCENE 2—Sayan Ridge But it is the wrong season for cutting bamboos; a foot of community property for part of your driveway. Impatient taxi-drivers, (from McPhee, 79–84) good grass for thatch has not reached full growth; And that you illegally cleared a thicket of bushes belong- preoccupied, ironwood for the pillars and teak for the bookshelves will ing to the graveyard. You are to be sealed in, imprisoned continually listening for some distant sound. KESYUR (in Balinese) take time to find. in your house. In subways and restaurants The village of Sayan still hang the placards from last year, stretches along the top of a narrow ridge Most important—the foundations cannot be begun before McPHEE Don’t waste bread! La guerre est pour demain. that runs up into the mountains. an auspicious day has been sought, when permission to open Sabar! Sabar! [calm down…] the land will have to be asked of the gods. It’s high time to return to composing. McPHEE KESYUR The land I want lies at the end of the village… You must go the the pemangku [village priest] and to the Calm, Tuan! Stay calm! But I find it difficult to get in the mood for work; head of the banjar [village council] to consult the calendar the weeks pass KESYUR for a favorable day. McPHEE and the pages are filled …next to the graveyard, on the edge of a deep ravine. Sabar! with no more than scraps of themes. I go to concerts, McPHEE SCENE 3—Wewangunan/Pangempetan KESYUR listen with restlessness Far below runs the river. (“Building/Barricade”) (from McPhee, 85–86) Let’s discuss this before you respond… to programs of the new music I once delighted in. KESYUR (KESYUR summons VILLAGERS (members of the McPHEE It now seems suddenly dull and intellectual. Across the valley ricefields rise in terraces gamelan) to begin building the house. They use their pang- I am an orang asing, a foreigner I care even less and disappear in the coconut groves. guls [mallets] as hammers, playing interlocking patterns as for the eloquence of romantic symphonies. Behind these run the mountains of Tabanan. they build. McPHEE notices the men at work.) KESYUR As I sit in the concert halls, Anger is not advisable in this situation… I think of the sunny music McPHEE McPHEE I listened to in the open air, And far off to the south a triangle of sea shines between Life is intense in the tropics. McPHEE among people who talked and laughed, the hills. Plant life thrusts up, Sabar! hearing yet not hearing the musicians, flowering overnight but cheered and exhilarated by the sounds. KESYUR KESYUR The land is covered with grass and shaded with coconuts. (VILLAGERS stop working, smoking cigarettes, chewing It is better to not make threats or appear angry… But here It descends in several steps to the edge of the cliff, where it betel nut, gambling, napping, etc. I feel suddenly shut in, drops four hundred feet. McPHEE and I can hardly wait From below comes the faint roar of the river as it rushes The following lines are sung intermittently, as the men take I have merely to drive to Gianyar… for the end of the concert. among the rocks and stones. more and more breaks, to McPHEE’s growing frustration.) Huge sound torpid and mechanized. KESYUR Basses drag, the drums are heavy as lead, McPHEE Men’s work, it proceeds so slowly I ask you to reconsider this… I can no longer listen I’ll lease it for ten years, drawn up legally Imperceptible to the endless legato of violins. before the Controlleur in Gianyar. It is thus with my house McPHEE I give up hope of seeing it finished …to resolve this in a day There is no doubt about it. KESYUR I am already homesick, The house will be built native style. (VILLAGERS cease work altogether.) KESYUR both for the life and people, There will be several buildings: Perhaps this is not the best approach and the music, a sleeping house, a main house, kitchen, bath-house… Kesyur—why must they rest for ten days Perhaps it would be better to settle this by local custom. which now seems more filled than ever with magic. For every five they work? I realize McPHEE McPHEE with sudden clearness …and garage! (KESYUR summons the men and work is completed. Tunggu! Tunggu! [hang on…] the only thing in the world I want to do is to return to Bali, McPHEE enters the house. Immediately and seamlessly, and make as complete a record as I can of the music. VILLAGERS move from building the house to barricading (Please turn the page quietly.)

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KESYUR McPHEE KESYUR McPHEE Tell the villagers you would like to resolve this in a tradi- …and pay annual dues Perhaps one final gesture of magnaminity, a meaningful Ma-af ! tional, Balinese manner. gift… KESYUR KESYUR McPHEE Perhaps you need to make an additional gesture of good will McPHEE …and that Tuan’s attitude is noble. Perhaps, as I think of it I give— McPHEE McPHEE KESYUR In addition… KESYUR …for the vil— Speak politely, with utmost respect Something that will add to the commonweal, from which KESYUR you have taken by using the land. KESYUR McPHEE …a token of friendship… They say Tuan is welcome to the land—they beg his forgive- Might it be possible to arrange things according to vil- McPHEE ness for any shortcomings with it lage law? McPHEE I contribute— In addition… McPHEE KESYUR KESYUR —lage… First, beg their forgiveness—say ma’af—tell them you regret KESYUR A final gesture of unmistakably good will this. …a sign of respect and atonement… KESYUR McPHEE Let the house ceremony begin. McPHEE McPHEE I offer to give… I regret…I regret this…Ma’af [I beg forgiveness] In addition… McPHEE KESYUR …feast! KESYUR KESYUR Perhaps a pig, to be slaughtered for the New Year. They understand that you are truly sorry. …to make up for the effrontery of your actions… (The men begin dragging away the branches. The house McPHEE consecration begins with the arrival of TWO GENDER McPHEE McPHEE …one pig, PLAYERS, who begin McPhee’s transcribed version of Alas Ma’af…I regret this. …for the privilege Arum from Music in Bali. Blackout—the music continues KESYUR as the next scene begins.) KESYUR KESYUR Yes, I think this is well chosen…this will surely be It never hurts to repeat such fine sentiments …which was erroneously taken, against good advice… satisfactory. SCENE 4—Fieldwork McPHEE McPHEE McPHEE (from Spies and Mead, with additional dialogue Ma’af…I regret this. …for the privilege a pig, a pig…one pig… by PS&E)

KESYUR KESYUR KESYUR (McPHEE in front of his house transcribing Alas Arum, Now assure them of your good intentions, that you have …against good advice... Perhaps two pigs might be more appropriate…I think on as intermittently played by the gender players and dalang. come as a friend. reflection that is the correct amount. MARGARET MEAD is taking pictures. WALTER SPIES McPHEE is painting Balinese boys.) McPHEE … of using a foot – McPHEE I have come as a friend Two pigs! Two pigs! McPHEE (transcribing) KESYUR Myriad stories all begin the same KESYUR …as I’m sure you recall. KESYUR the shadowplay’s introduction has finished Now tell them you will join the banjar, that you will be a And of course—did I not mention this?—it should be an now the story can unfold full member of the community McPHEE annual gift… …of using a foot… SPIES (painting) McPHEE McPHEE Glorious—glorious nature—and the landscape—her I would like to become… KESYUR Each year! children The quantity is unimportant… Two pigs each year… nature and her children—all of my paintings could have KESYUR this name A responsible village member, in every way… McPHEE KESYUR …one foot!… The village elders now agree… McPHEE McPHEE First music, prayers, offerings a member of the village… KESYUR McPHEE then the dalang places each figure on the screen The principle of common land remains the same… for the village feast. according to its essential nature KESYUR thus their journey can unfold …which would include the prompt payment of McPHEE KESYUR annual dues —of community property, …that Tuan’s thoughts are gentle and considerate... (Please turn the page quietly.)

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MEAD (taking photographs) MEAD SCENE 5—Masiram Ring Tukad (“River Bathing”) McPHEE The character of a culture revealed, Words are limited, (from McPhee, 116–117) Silahkan duduk [please sit down] Revealed here in the photographs I take, too limited, far too limited the culture is unsealed, dance witnessed, ritual docu- it stalls when I write it down (TWO WOMEN wash and bathe in the river, while (BAPAK, exhorted by IBU, reluctantly and awkwardly gets mented, trance explained it stalls when I write it down VILLAGE BOYS watch from a distance. Among them is off the floor and sits in a chair.) by my photographs in the pictures that I took, the boy SAMPIH, part of the crowd. The women finish to be published in my book, McPHEE and leave, gently scolding the boys as they go. The boys begin McPHEE in the pictures that I took last night How to write it down? to play in the water, now observed in turn by McPHEE Dengan hormat orang tua [with respect, parents], How to capture that phrase? and SPIES.) tell me everything about the boy McPHEE And the sequence is repeated, As always it begins in a scented grove meanwhile, the dalang very freely sings along inside it McPHEE & SPIES (in dialogue) BAPAK (in Balinese throughout) Paradise re-created—Alas Arum Wild…agile…delirious…a treeful of monkeys! Trouble...trouble...Difficult from the time he could walk. SPIES Naughty...disobedient...daring... SPIES Sunlight in proportion—pita maha, (The men make their presence known to the boys. SPIES Young artists of Ubud awaken music plays an ever more important role and SEVERAL BOYS leave together. McPHEE tentatively IBU (also in Balinese) Through my good work in how I paint a scene­— enters the water with SAMPIH and SOME BOYS, and One day his father beat me. Sampih grew very angry. He hit The young artists of Ubud empower themselves repeats in different scales and figures, the TWO WOMEN, who have reentered as Water Spirits. his father. Then his father beat him, hard, hard. When his small to large, like reincarnations. A flood sounds from a distance, roaring its way down the father was not looking, Sampih stole his purse and ran away. MEAD Painting is music with light— mountain, eventually endangering McPHEE. SAMPIH, I cried...cried! He was still so small. No one knew where he My photographs, my photographs dissonance, counterpoint are knots of space and time still in the water, rescues him, leading him to safety on the had gone. When I went to sell at the market in Mengwi I new methodologies, a new anthropology I make, final word of the aria.) asked, Is Sampih here? No one had seen him. When I went I take the essence of a people, MEAD to sell in Ubud I asked, Have you seen my child, I Sampih? new methods, The photographs are notes in evidence of behavior, McPHEE (as the flood gathers strength) But always no! Lost...lost...After a month he came home. anthropology, methodology, in black and white, When placed with the text they communicate, The sky is black, and these rivers have quick floods Hard...so very hard! In my photographs, in my photographs synthetic and analytic, far better, more efficiently, more and sudden heavy rains in the mountains; of quotidian transactions, effectively one minute life is normal, then a rush and a roar, SPIES (interrupting and interpreting) images that communicate the epitome of behavior than the simple act of writing could ever do an unexpected tidal wave, cutting a deeper gash into the land, She claims he is a very naughty child without the aid of my photographic record. it carries with it everything, trees and cattle, men Who runs away and cannot be controlled (from here on in, the lines interweave and intersect) Not fictions, deceptions, or recondite deconstructions He is hard—buas dan keras [wild and coarse] In the photographs I take (The two make and hold eye contact briefly. SAMPIH runs off.) Very very hard McPHEE I can fix in black and white No quick action, the figures are in place, the essential behaviors of a people McPHEE (to a remaining boy) (IBU continues in Balinese.) a dialogue masking hidden themes, Who is he? recurring eternal patterns to unfold McPHEE What is his name? SPIES And after it begins in the scented grove Tolong—dear Gusti, She gives numerous examples of this point! SPIES A little travel music—Alus Arum Please bring his parents to me. Hard…yes…wild…I see…wild… Glorious—glorious nature and its landscapes Each figure put in place—his character is his fate For young artists of Ubud—through my work— In the stories of the ancients (McPHEE, with MEAD close behind, approaches Pita Maha Am I similarly proscribed? Defined? Am I? ACT TWO SAMPIH, who has been listening indifferently.)

MEAD SPIES SCENE 1—Simpang (“The Visit”) McPHEE The essence of a people revealed, In the color of the sky, in the movement of the sun, in (from McPhee, 119–120) Boy­— revealed in my photographs, the gesture of a boy I capture life At work, at play, no fear of death, ir claim on life (McPHEE, MEAD, and SPIES in the house. Outside, MEAD nervously approaching—and bantering in Balinese—are Little man! McPHEE MEAD SAMPIH, with BAPAK [his father] and IBU [his mother]. Attenuated phrases meander to a graceful cadence, Photographs, my photographs They knock, and McPHEE rushes to the door.) McPHEE the story has been told many times. New methodologies, a new anthropology Little man! Is how I fix the essence of a people McPHEE SPIES New methods, anthropology, methodology Welcome, silahkan masuk [please come in] (SAMPIH hides his head, to shy to answer.) A painting is like music—I would love to hear it! In black and white, in my photographs, Welcome to my home, consider it as you would your own Proportions—color and proportion In the pictures that I took MEAD & McPHEE Formal distribution of light in space, To be published in my book (The family enters with bodies bowed, politely trying to keep Little man! Little man!! graceful proportions of time and space In the pictures that I took, in my book, that I took their heads lower than McPHEE’s. He in turn lowers him- self to make eye contact, with everyone eventually ending (SAMPIH hides behind his parents.) up on the floor.) (Please turn the page quietly.)

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MEAD SPIES SCENE 2—Dance Lessons McPHEE Boy! Since when do demons have white skin, at least on this (from McPhee 120–22, 142–44) I beg you, try again! island? (SAMPIH scampers across the stage. McPHEE gently (Dance: RANTUN tries to instruct SAMPIH in household SPIES approaches.) MEAD chores, as described above…each attempt starts simply, but So that he may observe the process—for his research— The location of this house is very inauspicious SAMPIH gets distracted, clowns around, turning the move- McPHEE (handing SAMPIH a cigarette) ments of the chore into dance…this repeats several times, How did you live when you ran away? McPHEE eventually climaxing in a kebyar. McPHEE observes, then McPHEE How so? sends RANTUN away.) —with respect, a little patience, again, as an experiment, (IBU exhorts SAMPIH to take the cigarette out of polite- so that I may observe the teaching process close at hand ness, then immediately scolds him for having it.) MEAD McPHEE Colin—dear, dear Colin—you built your house next to Sampih—come here, my little man (KALÈR tries again, with the same result. He gives up and MEAD the graveyard! Did you ever study dance? prepares to leave.) This is all to be expected Would you like to try to learn to dance? Thoroughly predictable, and scripted as in a play McPHEE Little man—I know what you do when I am not around KALÈR He is impelled by culture not to speak Nonsense—your own childish superstitions Little man—you are always dancing With deep respect, Tuan, this is too much to ask of me— While his Ibu is equally bound to scold him for his bad And nothing that can’t be overcome with kindness Playing my phonograph whenever I leave the room it is vain to spend time on this mountain child. behavior Little man—your eyes are sweet, as a dancers must be You may read all about this, in some detail, I might add, (RANTUN the cook enters with pancakes, ready to be You could be a dancer McPHEE in my book flambéed.) Is there really no hope? No promise at all? McPHEE & SPIES SPIES McPHEE You could be a dancer KALER If I may, Ibu, bapak, what is his age? Little man—here is a special treat—go ahead, no need He has a dimple, and the energy of a wild horse to be shy! (Enter NYOMAN KALÈR.) He could perhaps be an actor, but a dancer…never… IBU …he was born just after his cousin got married and died (McPHEE lights the pancakes—the flames terrify the fam- McPHEE (Exit KALÈR.) of fever… ily, who have decided it is time to leave.) This is the boy. It is time he studies dancing SPIES BAPAK SPIES KALÈR (in Balinese) You need a different kind of teacher …no—it was certainly before the earthquake Well done—well done indeed! Why? More open (to McPHEE) If there were ever any doubt, now it is gone. I offer my ignorance, perhaps four years The white skinned demon eats fire. McPHEE McPHEE The scary white skinned demon— Primarily as an experiment, of course. More patient IBU (indignant) With the house next to the graveyard— Indeed not! Eleven, most likely… Eats fire! SPIES SPIES To see what might happen. Less pedantic MEAD MEAD Again, we see manifest all my theories Let this family go home! McPHEE McPHEE Age only measured by events and ritual Will his instincts… Younger See my appendix on this topic SPIES Before you do, if I may, SPIES SPIES McPHEE Boy—little man, …for drama… To train him before he is returned to the priest to whom I would like to be his good friend this man—my good friend Colin— he belongs. And employ him in my home has a motorcar with its own house, called a garage. McPHEE In the village of Bedulu we saw such a girl He could walk the ducks to the ricefield, or peel onions If you lived here and worked for him, …develop? for the cook peeling onions, and tending to the ducks, McPHEE my good friend Colin (KALÈR gives SAMPIH a lesson, to a simple gilak pat- She is old! MEAD might be persuaded tern. They start in sync, then after several cycles SAMPIH Colin, he is scared—to him you seem a demon to take you out of the village, starts improvising wildly, no longer following his teacher’s SPIES Let him go home—nothing will induce him to stay to take you for a ride movements.) Yes, nearly 14, ready for the next generation. It is culturally determined—there is nothing more to say on the subject (McPHEE & SAMPIH drive off.) KALÈR (to McPHEE, in Balinese) (Enter CAMPLUNG, the girl from Bedulu) He is unsuitable—a wild farmer’s child—stiff as a nail and impossible to control. McPHEE & SPIES Here is the boy…

(Please turn the page quietly.)

18 CAL PERFORMANCES CAL PERFORMANCES 19 LIBRETTO LIBRETTO

(CAMPLUNG teaches SAMPIH to dance, they click im- SAGAMI (bows politely—spoken) Alternations of intense enthusiasm and utter boredom— EPILOGUE mediately. This builds to a big triumphant kebyar, which Would you allow me to see your house, so famous for its I understand. (from Mead) segues immediately to…) fine location? Yet his life lacks direction, which I alas cannot provide. I will always remain the outsider. (Dialogue accompanies stage action.) (He snoops, snapping photos, counting objects, etc.) SCENE 3—Departure MEAD MEAD (spoken) (from McPhee 201–10; introduction to Mead; Spies) McPHEE (spoken) If a boy is of worth, his village will ask for him to be Two primary directions, west and east Won’t you have some tea? returned. The West—where drama spills over into real life (McPHEE asleep in the house; MEAD at her desk writ- The East—where real life spills over into the play ing; KEKAWIN SINGER enters, begins to sing about the SAGAMI (spoken) (SAMPIH’s builds to a frenzy, not in sync with Autocosmic—the body is the stage, the principle actor LÈYAK, a ricefield demon, who appears as a combination No, I can’t stay. the rest of the music.) Microcosmic, a drama within, the player manipulating of lights and live dancer.) the pieces, one of which may represent himself (SAGAMI barely looks at the house, walking quickly in all McPHEE Macrocosmic, the play lived out in the real world KEK AWIN directions, snapping pictures, counting objects, etc.) Listen to it: Traditional Balinese singing the confusion of sounds, (Stage action continues.) SAGAMI (spoken) jangling dissonance, MEAD (at her desk) You have a wonderful view. merging to form MEAD (spoken) Life—a rhythmic patterned unreality constantly surprising harmonies Among persons, there is a fixed hierarchical plan. of significant movement, McPHEE (spoken) in this absolute music. The order can never be broken centered in one’s own body Please, sit down. Each man’s place in the social scheme is known. to which all emotion long ago withdrew. (Drum accents grow more intense.) He accepts his privileges and discharges his duties. SAGAMI (spoken) KEK AWIN No, thank you, thank you, terima kasih, arigato, arigato. McPHEE (alternating with Spies) Small errors are matters of embarrassment Traditional Balinese singing continues I think back to scraps of conversation, expeditions, (SAGAMI bows himself offstage.) discoveries MEAD (sung) (McPHEE wakes up, noticing the lights.) I puzzled it together—the parts fits, I can hear it And may lead to (SAMPIH slowly begins dancing Baris.) No mystery—the mystery is gone—there is nothing Misfortune McPHEE (spoken) more to do. Supernaturally sent Look! What lights can they possibly be? They are too KEK AWIN pale for lamps, and besides, there are no paths where Traditional Balinese singing SPIES (alternating with McPhee) The house of the other is not entered lightly. they are moving. So many wonders, one hardly has time to see them all, The fallen flower MEAD (sitting at her desk, writing) Every day I die anew—unserious frivolity—a life of play. May not be picked up again KESYUR (spoken) The body is the stage I pity those who don’t know how to play it. May not be placed in the hair The lèyaks. They must be from Bangkasa… Or from on which emotions play out in isolation. All this is lived through, somewhere in the north. The land is alive with lèyaks A boy’s body is a toy McPHEE (still alternating) until vacancy and awayness supersede. again. They have been seen several times in the past But then I hear nervous drumming, month. In the graveyard, in the trees. SPIES (spoken) delicate, radiant compositions, He is a delight. burning with new creative life l i t e r a r y s o u r c e s McPHEE (spoken) Colin McPhee, A House in Bali (Periplus, 2000) How is it I never saw these lights? McPHEE (spoken) SPIES (still alternating) Margaret Mead, Balinese Character (New York He is the despair of the club! Spoiled, unruly, one week No deep incidents or traumas—they roll on past and Academy of Science, 1942) KESYUR (spoken) devoted, the next utterly indifferent. seem to do no harm Walter Spies, Briefe (1964) You’ve been very lucky. They are surely a sign of No cataclysms—I turn somersaults and walk away misfortune. MEAD As he grows older, he withdraws into himself, skirting McPHEE and SPIES (together) KEK AWIN his elders. The essence, and final meaning, eludes me Traditional Balinese singing SPIES (spoken) McPHEE (LÈYAK DANCE concludes. KESYUR leaves, MEAD Can you not smile at his manipulations? He has learned Kesyur, dig up the flowers and plant them at home. continues writing At the corner of the stage enter SAMPIH, to cover things up with some little trick—an exagger- being dressed in Baris costume.) ated flourish, a sudden smile—he has become aware of (Enter DUTCH POLICEMAN, who arrests SPIES and his charm. leads him away.) (Enter SAGAMI, Japanese photographer, in half-mask, with camera, continually taking photographs.) McPHEE (spoken) A professional instinct for camouflage of the artist, I sympathize with this.

20 CAL PERFORMANCES CAL PERFORMANCES 21 ABOUT THE ARTISTS ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Dewa Ketut Alit (music Bang on a Can All-Stars, named Musical opera, and a creative director of Masque Films, an Tisch School of the Arts and has been a Princess director, Gamelan Salukat) America’s Ensemble of the Year in 2005, have been unconventional music video and film production Grace Recipient and an NEA/TCG Fellow. was born to a family of art- heralded as “the country’s most important vehicle company. He can be heard on Hawaii Public Radio, ists in Pengosekan village in for contemporary music” by the San Francisco Radio NS, Kol Israel, Reka Radio and on the most Sara Brown (scenic design) earned her BA at Bali and was immersed in Chronicle. Founded in 1992 by Bang on a Can recent CD release of the band Devotchka. Gustavus Adolphus College and her MFA in sce- Balinese gamelan from early co-founders Michael Gordon, and nic design at the University of Virginia. She con- childhood, performing in his , the All-Stars quickly forged a distinct Robert Black (bass), a founding member of the tinued at Virginia for two years as a lecturer and village’s adult group by age 13. In 1997, seeking to identity and have come to be known worldwide for Bang on a Can All-Stars, tours the world playing a guest artist. As a scenic artist, she has painted renew and reinvigorate his tradition, Dewa Alit their ultradynamic live performances and record- solo concerts on the , as well as working for the Guthrie Theatre, the Children’s Theatre and his brothers founded Gamelan Cudamani. The ings of today’s most innovative music. The group’s with composers from all walks of life—from John Company and the Chanhassen Dinner Theatre. group toured the in 2005 and 2006, celebrated projects and collaborations include their Cage to DJ Spooky—creating unheard of music She has designed scenery in Minneapolis for including a concert at Cal Performances, featur- landmark recordings of ’s ambient classic for the double bass. His concert collaborations in- Stepping Stone Theatre and Starting Gate Theatre ing Dewa Alit’s original compositions. Generally Music for Airports and Terry Riley’s In C, as well clude Brazilian painters, Japanese choreographers, and in Charlottesville, Virginia, at the Ashlawn acknowledged as the leading Balinese composer of as live performances with Philip Glass, Meredith English actors, and musicians from every corner of Opera Festival, Heritage Repertory Theatre and his generation, he has composed dozens of works Monk, , Iva Bittova, Thurston Moore the globe. He is on the faculty at both the Hartt Live Arts. She is the resident scenic designer for the for in Bali and abroad, including five and others. Most recently, the group opened the and schools of music, and teaches reg- Dana Tai Soon Burgess Company in Washington new works for Gamelan Galak Tika which have 2009 Manchester Festival with the world premiere ularly at the Festival Eleazar de Carvalho (Brazil). DC. She is currently the Director of Design in the been performed at Zankel Hall, the Bang on a of ’s 2x5, and new projects in 2009– He received a 1998 Bessie Award for his collab- Theater Department of MIT. Can Marathon, Southern Exposure and numer- 2010 include Julia Wolfe’s Steel Hammer, an eve- orative work with The School of Hard Knocks in ous other venues in the United States. He holds ning-length staged concert with Trio Mediæval, . His solo CDs are State of the Bass Thomas Carr (assistant music director) is a com- ongoing residencies at the University of British and new works by Louis Andriessen, Nik Bärtsch, (O. O. Discs), The Complete Bass Music of Christian poser and pianist. He recently graduated from Columbia, MIT and Helena College in Perth, Oscar Bettison, Bill Frisell, Ryuichi Sakamoto and Wolff (Mode Records), The Complete Bass Music of MIT, where he was Assistant Director of Gamelan Australia. An avid lover of jazz, he has participated Christine Southworth. The All-Stars now record Giacinto (Mode Records) and an upcoming two- Galak Tika. He is now a graduate student at in jam sessions and collaborations Tokyo, Boston, on (cantaloupemusic.com) CD set of mid-20th century American bass music. McGill University in Montreal. Vancouver and Denpasar. He founded Gamelan and have released past recordings on Sony, Mr. Black has also recorded for the Sony Classical, Salukat in 2007. Universal and Nonesuch. For up-to-date informa- Point/Polygram, Koch International, CRI, Neuma I Nyoman Catra (Kesyur, tion regarding Bang on a Can programs, events Records, Gasparo, Opus One, Artifact Recordings Bapak, Kalèr, Sagami) is Kadek Dewi Aryani and CD releases, please visit bangonacan.org. and Folkways labels. a master of traditional (Penari, Rantun, Camplung, Balinese masked dance and Lèyak), choreographer and Timur Bekbosunov (tenor, Oana Botez-Ban (costume design), a native puppetry, specializing in dancer, was born in 1977 Walter Spies) is a recognized of Romania, has designed for major theater the roles of the clowns. He in Karangasem, the ancient interpreter of contempo- and dance companies, including the National has performed in Canada, and very traditional eastern rary opera in the United Theater of Bucharest, and has been involved in , Europe, Asia, India and Australia. In the area of Bali. She is one of Jeff Lieberman States. Recent productions different international theater festivals such as United States, he has appeared with Julie Taymor at the most promising talents of a new generation of include Robert Woodruff the Quadrennial Scenography Show in Prague. LaMama and at the Henson International Puppet Balinese performers, combining the strong roots and Evan Ziporyn’s 2004 Oedipus at the American Ms. Botez-Ban is part of the first Romanian the- Festival with Larry Reed. He co-created a Balinese of Balinese tradition with new contemporary ap- Repertory Theater; the premiere of Jeffrey Brody’s ater design catalogue, Scenografica. Since 1999, her Tempest with Ron Jenkins, and was featured soloist proaches in her creative performance. She has ap- Jabberwocky with the Salem Philharmonic; the New York costume collaborations in theater and in Robert Woodruff and Evan Ziporyn’s Oedipus peared in Robert Wilson’s epic I La Galigo and was role of Electrician in the Los Angeles premiere of dance include Robert Woodruff, Richard Foreman, at the American Repertory Theater in 2004. He invited to dance with Gamelan Cudamani at the Powder Her Face by Thomas Adès, conducted by , Richard Schechner, Blanka Zizka, holds a master’s degree in theater from Emerson World Festival of Sacred Music in Los Angeles. She the composer; appearances in the Midwest pre- Brian Kulick, Zelda Fichlander, Karin Coonrod, University and a PhD in from maintains an active performer of traditional and mieres of The Death of Orpheus by Gian-Carlo Jay Scheib, Eduardo Machado, Gus Solomon, Jr. Wesleyan, and has taught Balinese performing arts experimental dance in Bali, and is also a principal Menotti and Meyer Kupferman’s In a Garden; & Paradigm, Carmen de Lavallade, Dusan Tynek, at Eastman, Holy Cross and MIT, where he co- dancer in the multinational cast of Kobalt Works, Tom Rakewell in The Rake’s Progress, directed by Gisela Cardenas, Pavol Liska, Matthew Neenan, founded Gamelan Galak Tika. He is on the faculty a European dance troupe that has performed in Ken Cazan; Macheath in Threepenny Opera at the Molissa Fenley, Zishan Ugurlu, Erin Mee, Judith at the ISI National Arts Academy in Denpasar, and Belgium, the Netherlands and France. Hawaii Performing Arts Festival. He is a coordina- Ren-Lay, Michael Sexton, Pig Iron Company, Play runs a traditional sanggar [dance training program] tor of the Art of Opera, a non-profit organization Company, Charles Moulton, Loy Arcenas and Ripe in his home village of Mengwi. committed to the development of contemporary Time. She holds an MFA in design from NYU/

22 CAL PERFORMANCES CAL PERFORMANCES 23 ABOUT THE ARTISTS ABOUT THE ARTISTS

David Cossin (percussion) is a specialist in new a series of radio plays written by acclaimed screen- All-Stars in collaboration with guest artists Iva With a unique voice and sen- and experimental music. He has recorded and writers Charlie Kaufman and the Coen Brothers, Bittova, Don Byron, Bill Frisell, Glenn Kotche sitivity for Baroque and early performed internationally with composers and starring actors Steve Buscemi, Philip Seymour (Wilco), Lee Ranaldo (Sonic Youth), Steve Reich music, haute-contre Marc ensembles including Steve Reich and Musicians, Hoffman and Meryl Streep. Mr. Fan has also and Ryuichi Sakamoto. He has served as a faculty Molomot (tenor, Colin Philip Glass, Yo-Yo Ma, Meredith Monk, Tan worked with innovative choreographers Karole member in the music department of Columbia McPhee) has established his Dun, Cecil Taylor, Thurston Moore and Bo Armitage, Shen Wei and Christopher Wheeldon. College Chicago, as an Associate Instructor of reputation as a distinguished Diddley. Mr. Cossin was featured as the percus- He joined the Flux Quartet in 2008. Mr. Fan plays Composition at Indiana University’s Jacob School concert and opera singer. In sion soloist in Ang Lee’s film Crouching Tiger, the “Haussman” Stradivarius of 1724. of Music and as faculty at the Bang on a Can Christian Steiner the 2009–2010 season and Hidden Dragon. He has performed as a soloist with Summer Institute. He is currently an Assistant beyond, he creates the role of McPhee in Evan orchestras throughout the world including the Los Anne Harley (soprano, Professor of Music Theory and Composition at the Ziporyn’s A House in Bali at Cal Performances, Angeles Philharmonic, Radio France, Margaret Mead) special- Ball State University School of Music. Mr. Johnson as well as Adolphe and Un page in Offenbach’s São Paulo State Symphony, Sydney Symphony and izes in music from the most is an avid transcriber and is currently working in Les Brigands in a return to Opéra Comique and the Gothenburg Symphony. He is the curator for groundbreaking contempo- collaboration with the innovative Swedish band Opéra Toulon. the Sound Res Festival, an experimental music fes- rary composers as well as in Meshuggah on a series of transcription books en- His recent performances include Lord tival in southern Italy, and he teaches percussion at music from predominantly compassing the band’s complete discography. Cockburn in Auber’s Fra Diavolo at the Opéra College in New York City. oral traditions. She performs Comique and Opéra Royal de Wallonie; Rameau’s with Opera Boston, The Peter Ksander (lighting design) is a stage designer Castor et Pollux and the Campra Requiem at Andrew Cotton (sound design/engineer), in his role American Repertory Theatre, whose credits include Untitled Mars (this title may the Proms and Salle Playel under the baton of as tour manager and engineer, works closely with The Handel & Haydn Society, Boston Camerata, change) [Obie Award], The Making of Americans, Oh John Eliot Gardiner; Purcell’s Fairy Queen with composers and musicians including several major the Banff Centre for the Arts (Alberta, Canada) What War, Othello, Problem Radicals, Sine Wave Tafelmusik and Boston Baroque; a return to London producers, specializing in contemporary and at the Tanglewood Festival. The Boston Globe Goodbye and This Place Is a Desert. He is a curator Opéra National de Lyon for Basilio in Le Nozze music projects with artists and concert series as acclaimed her performance in Peter Eötvös’s Angels for the Ontological Hysteric Incubator. di Figaro; and Damon in Acis and Galatea with diverse as Elvis Costello and John Harle, the BBC in America as “vocally and dramatically outstand- Musica Angelica, Montreal’s Ensemble Boréades Promenade Series, Meltdown, George Russell, ing.” The Village Voice described her performance at Desak Made Suarti Laskmi and in Vancouver. Carla Bley and Talvin Singh. He collaborates with BAM as transmitting a “heart-wrenching purity.” (Penari,Ibu, Penyanyi Kekawin) Mr. Molomot recently made his debut composers Michael Gordon, David Lang, Julia Her solo performances are released on Naxos, Sony is a performer of , with Opéra National de Lyon as Arnalta in Wolfe and Evan Ziporyn on their pieces for the Classics, Dorian and Musica Omnia. Dr. Harley (opera) and gamelan, and is L’incoronazione di Poppea with Les Arts Florissants All-Stars as well as large ensemble, dance and the- leads the groundbreaking Russian music ensem- one of only two internationally under William Christie. His other performances ater pieces. ble, TALISMAN, with Oleg Timofeyev. Their performed female composers with the renowned ensemble include Les Boréades first recording project won the Noah Greenberg from Bali. She received degrees at the Opéra Garnier that was followed by per- Felix Fan (cello) has performed with Yo-Yo Ma, Award from the American Musicological Society from the National College of the Arts (ISI) in formances at Brooklyn Academy of Music and Gil Shaham and János Starker, in venues such as and garnered praise from Gramophone. Since then, Denpasar and from Brown University. Her inno- Barbican Centre and Les Indes Gallant in Paris, Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Musikverein the group has recorded CDs of early Russian and vative compositions for gamelan and chorus have and a tour of Europe and South America in an and the Royal Festival Hall. Mr. Fan’s recent solo Roma (Gypsy) music. She joined the faculty of been featured annually at the Bali International all-Charpentier program. He has also joined the engagements include the San Diego and Pacific Scripps College in 2009. Arts Festival since 1986. She has toured exten- ensemble as Falsa Mater in Charpentier’s Judicum symphonies, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Macau sively in Australia, Europe, India, Japan, Canada Salomnis on tour in France and Spain and can be Symphony Orchestra and the Munich Chamber Derek Johnson (guitar) is a composer, elec- and the United States. Since 1985, she has been on heard on a commercial recording of the work. Orchestra. His interest in contemporary music has tric guitarist and educator active in the world of the ISI faculty; she has also taught classes at Clark He made his debut with New York Collegium led to collaborations with today’s leading compos- contemporary concert music and beyond. His University, Emerson College, Eastman School of as The Evangelist in Bach’s St. Matthew Passion ers, including George Crumb, Tan Dun, Hans compositions have been performed throughout Music and MIT, where she co-founded Gamelan and has since joined the group for Handel’s Israel Werner Henze, Oliver Knussen, Kaija Saariaho and the United States and Canada by leading soloists Galak Tika in 1993. From 2001 to 2005, she in Egypt and concerts of concerts of Gabrieli, Charles Wuorinen. In 1998, he founded Muzik3, a and ensembles including the Chicago Symphony was the inaugural Ford Foundation Professor of Clerambault and Bach. He has sung further per- multidisciplinary arts festival. This led to the for- Orchestra’s MusicNOW and Montreal’s Nouvel Balinese Performing Arts at Holy Cross. formances of the St. Matthew Passion with the mation in 2004 of Real Quiet, a trio consisting of Ensemble Moderne. He is a founding member in Groningen Baroque Orchestra; Bach’s Mass in B Mr. Fan, David Cossin (percussion) and Andrew the virtuoso chamber ensemble BASILICA and a minor as well as a program of Charpentier with Russo (piano), with whom he has commissioned regular performer with the post-rock improvisa- the Trinity Consort; Bach’s Easter Oratorio, and premiered over 20 works and recorded for tion collective the goodhands team. Johnson has Praetorious’s Christmas Vespers and Monteverdi Endeavour and Naxos. In 2005, Mr. Fan performed performed internationally with the Bang on a Can concert with Apollo’s Fire in Cleveland; and

24 CAL PERFORMANCES CAL PERFORMANCES 25 ABOUT THE ARTISTS ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Charpentier’s Actéon and Te Deum with Les goûts creating a hybrid “digital fiddle” to realize his and his Shakespeare adaptation All Good Everything of scientists and artists. She founded and co-curat- réunis. His recent recording of Lully’s Thésée with other’s compositions in real time. Good with Italian singer Margareth Kammerer. ed, with Evan Ziporyn, the first biannual Beeline the Boston Early Music Festival was nominated for Other international works include the world Festival last spring. She is currently working on a Grammy Award. Gamelan Salukat was founded by Dewa Ketut premiere of Irene Popovic’s opera Mozart Luster commissions from The Explorers Club and Bang He has also joined Philharmonia Baroque Alit in 2007. Based in Pengosekan Village, it is Lustik at the Sava Center in Belgrade, Serbia, and on a Can Peoples’ Commissioning Fund for the for Bach’s St. John Passion and sung Arnalta in dedicated to performing experimental works with a new staging of the Novoflot science fiction opera with Andrew W.K. and the Bang Vancouver, Lully’s Le carnival masquerade at roots in Balinese tradition. For this performance, saga Kommander Kobayashi at the Saarlandisches on a Can All-Stars. Cornell University and Eastman School of Music, the group is joined by members of Gamelan Cenik Staatstheater in Saarbrücken, . Monterverdi’s Vespers with Andrew Parrott, Bach’s Wayan of Ubud Village, Putu Adi Septa Sewaca Mr. Scheib is currently Associate Professor Thirteen-year-old Christmas Oratorio with Ensemble Bressanone, Putra, coordinator. for Music and Theater Arts at MIT, where he re- Nyoman Triyana Bernstein’s Mass with L’Orchestre National cently received the Edgerton Award, given to one Usadhi (Sampih) is d’Ile de France, and Bach’s Magnificat with the Kenny Savelson (executive director, producer) has junior faculty member per year. He is a past re- the son of Nyoman Akron Symphony. managed the creation, production and touring of cipient of the National Endowment for the Arts/ Catra and Desak all of Bang on a Can’s current programs since 1997. Theater Communications Group program for Madé Suarti Laksmi. Laine Rettmer (assistant director, stage manager) As a drummer, he has toured and recorded with a directors, and is a regular guest professor at both Born in Massachusetts, he began dancing at age graduated with honors from NYU’s Experimental variety of bands over the last 20 years in the United the Mozarteum Institute für Regie und Schauspiel six, performing as a featured soloist with Gamelan Theater Wing in 07 with a focus in theater direc- States, Europe and Japan and continues to record in Salzburg, Austria, and the Norwegian Theatre Galak Tika in Boston and Dharma Swara in New tion. She is pleased to have assisted Jay Scheib on and perform as a drummer in New York. Academy in Norway. York. Since returning to Bali in 2005, he has inten- Untitled Mars (This Title May Change) in both sified his training, and recently performed lead roles America and Hungary, and is currently assist- Jay Scheib (director) has Paul Schick (librettist) is the in two productions at the 2009 Bali International ing him on the upcoming production of Bellona: been developing new works artistic director of Real Time Arts Festival. A House in Bali marks Mr. Usadhi’s Destroyer of Worlds, premiering at the Kitchen in for performance for over 10 Opera and has presented nu- first appearance in a Western opera. NYC this spring. Upcoming Laine will be direct- years in the United States and merous world premieres of new ing a reading of a new play by Benjamin Forster, throughout Europe. Recent operas. He has written three Ning Yu (piano) was born and raised in Shenyang, and acting in Charles Mee’s newest play with the productions include the operas with composer Dan China. She began her training at the Central theater company, Witness Relocation. Obie Award-winning documentary performance Plonsey, all produced in San Conservatory of Music in Beijing at age 13, and Untitled Mars (This Title May Change) which pre- Francisco. He also designed moved to the United States at 15 to further pur- Todd Reynolds (violin) is well known for his work miered at Performance Space 122 in New York, and directed Wayan Wija/ sue her studies. She has participated in a wide with the string group, , which he founded in and the live-cinema performance event This Place Evan Ziporyn’s Shadow Bang. He has served on the range of musical and theatrical collaborations, 1999; he is also recognized as a composer, elec- Is a Desert, which premiered at Boston’s Institute directing staffs of San Francisco Opera, Vienna performing with artists from around the world. tronic musician, conductor and improviser across of Contemporary Art last year, followed by a sold- State Opera, Opera alla Scala and the Salzberg Her onstage playing in the Obie Award-winning style and genre. With roots in the Bang on a Can, out run at the Public Theater in New York City as Summer Festival and has created music videos for Mabou Mines’ Dollhouse has led to over 100 per- post-minimal scene, Mr. Reynolds counts among part of the Under the Radar Festival. Mr. Scheib a Monteverdi opera, a Ben Johnson masque and formances in more than 20 cities worldwide and at his many notable collaborations his work with also collaborated with acclaimed punk rock en- short works for numerous contemporary compos- the Spoleto Festival, Edinburgh Festival, Festival the Steve Reich Ensemble, the Silk Road Project, semble The World Inferno Friendship Society in ers. Mr. Schick has written two books of poetry de Otoño and Athens Epidaurus. She was also the Bang on a Can and indie-sensations The Books. the creation of a multimedia music theater perfor- and a variety of musical scores. He received a PhD original pianist for the Tony Award-nominated Today, he continues in both the acoustic and elec- mance titled Addicted to Bad Ideas: Peter Lorre’s in musicology from Yale. 33 Variations. As a member of Signal, she regu- tronic worlds and is featured in Meredith Monk’s 20th Century. Addicted to Bad Ideas premiered at larly performs music by Michael Gordon, Philip recent Songs of Ascension. His own Still Life with Philadelphia Live Arts Festival, made its New York Christine Southworth (co-producer, produc- Glass, Steve Reich and others. She has performed Microphone, a site-specific, laptop-driven concert City debut as part of the Under the Radar Festival/ tion manager) is a composer, artistic director of with Bang on a Can since 2007. Ms. Yu teaches at theater piece, currently tours with artist Luke Public Theater, and has since been performed Ensemble Robot and general manager of Gamelan the Third Street Settlement Music School in New DuBois and film of Bill Morrison, and his teach- widely in the United States and Europe. In 2006, Galak Tika. Employing sounds from man and na- York. She is a graduate of the Eastman School of ing residencies at universities across the nation in- he directed the critically acclaimed Women Dreamt ture, from Van de Graaff Generator to honeybees, Music and SUNY Stony Brook. clude creativity conversations, traditional and non- Horses by Argentinean author Daniel Veronese at Balinese gamelan to seismic data from volcanoes, traditional master-classes, composer forums and Performance Space 122 as part of BAiT—Buenos Ms. Southworth makes music based on an inter- software integration. Mr. Reynolds uses a laptop Aires in Translation. Recent international works action between science, technology and creativ- as a constant second instrument, employing digital include a performance installation at Raum ity, and works to promote a new genre of music to sound processing along with his traditional violin, (Space) Bologna, as part of the Xing Festival, with Boston, born out of the area’s complex community

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Evan Ziporyn (composer)’s of Arts and Letters’ Goddard Lieberson Award. His work is colored by his 30- music has been commissioned and performed by year involvement with Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble, , A House in Bali Balinese music, which like , the American Composers Orchestra, Colin McPhee’s began Maya Beiser, , Nederlands Blazers, with a chance hearing of a the American Repertory Theater and the Boston Campus and Community Events recording. Within months, Modern Orchestra Project, with whom he recorded September 18–26, 2009 he found his way to the his 2006 orchestral CD Frog’s Eye. Recordings of his Bay Area to work with the works have been released on the Cantaloupe, Sony Composer Colloquium

newly formed Gamelan Southworth Christine Classical, New Albion, New World, Koch, Innova Friday, September 18, 3pm Sekar Jaya, and in 1981 began the first of numer- and CRI labels. He has collaborated with some of 125 Morrison Hall ous extended research trips to Bali, including on the worlds most creative and vital living musicians, Composer Evan Ziporyn—UC Berkeley PhD, Bang on a Can All-Stars member and MIT a 1987 Fulbright Fellowship. He also performed including Brian Eno, Ornette Coleman, Thurston professor—talks about his work. with Gamelan Sekar Jaya on their landmark 1985 Moore, Meredith Monk, Iva Bittova, Philip Glass, and 1992 concert tours of the island. In 1990, he Terry Riley, Don Byron, Louis Andriessen, Cecil Balinese Dance Demonstration began composing a series of groundbreaking cross- Taylor, Henry Threadgill and . Monday, September 21, 5:30pm cultural works, combining gamelan with saxo- He is Kenan Sahin Distinguished Professor of Hertz Hall phones, guitars, electronics, Chinese and African Music at MIT. Upcoming projects include a solo Dancer-choreographer Dewi Kadek Aryani and dancer Desak Made Suarti Laksmi demon- instruments, and full orchestra. He founded drum set work for Wilco drummer Glenn Kotche strate Balinese dance forms. Gamelan Galak Tika in 1993, dedicating the group and a concerto for tabla master . to new music by both Balinese and American com- Gamelan Master Class posers. In 2004, he brought the group to John Tuesday, September 22, 5:30pm Adams’s In Your Ear! Festival in Zankel Hall, Special thanks to Dewa Ketut Alit, Charles 250 Morrison Hall where his music was hailed by The New York Times Amirkhanian, Rucina Ballinger, I Madé Bandem, Musicians of the Balinese ensemble Gamelan Salukat coach UC Berkeley students in the as “an exuberant blast of metal fireworks.” His Kompiang Metri Davies, Sonia Florian, Gamelan Gamelan program at the Department of Music. Observers are welcome. 2001 fusion opera, ShadowBang, a collaboration Galak Tika, Lisa Gold, Marlowe Hood, Christina with master Balinese dalang Wayan Wija, was the Jensen, Madé Lebah, the late Wayan Loceng, Janet Artist Talk: Crossing Cultures: Behind the Scenes centerpiece of the 2006 Amsterdam GrachtenFest Sonenberg & MIT Music and Theater Arts, Carol Friday, September 25, 4pm at the newly built Muziekgebouw. Oja, Aya Sakuma, Tanya Selvaratnam, Slamet Zellerbach Hall Lobby Mezzanine As a clarinetist, Mr. Ziporyn has toured the Sjukur, Wayan Suweca, , Victoria Evan Ziporyn discusses the challenges of creating a staged work with artists of vastly differ- globe with the All-Stars since their formation in Vaughan, Christopher Walker, Wayne Vitale & ent training and cultural experiences, with a brief look at a rehearsal in progress. 1992. He redefined the instrument with his 2001 Sarah Willner, Ava Ziporyn, Charlotte Ziporyn and solo CD This Is Not a , which made nu- Leo Ziporyn. Education and Community programs presented in conjunction with the American premiere merous top-10 lists across United States and was of A House in Bali are sponsored by Cal Performances in association with the UC Berkeley featured on NPR’s All Things Considered. He re- We would also like to thank our supporters in Bali, Department of Music and Center for Southeast Asian Studies and Gamelan Sekar Jaya. corded the definitive version of Steve Reich’s New without whom our workshop could not have hap- York Counterpoint for Nonesuch and, as a member pened: Glenn Adams, Sandra Dee, Trudy Gardner, of the Steve Reich Ensemble, the Grammy Award- Ramadatta Jacobs, Cokorda Putra, Maple Reddick, winning Music for 18 Musicians. His music provid- Aya Sukuma, Iluh Sudianing, Antje Themlitz, Sightlines ed the soundtrack for the PBS filmTail-enders , and Randall and Lela Thomas and Cok Wah. his playing was featured in Tan Dun’s soundtrack Saturday, September 26, 7pm for the film Fallen. He has also recorded with Paul Special thanks to Rachel Cooper and Gamelan Sekar Zellerbach Hall Simon, Matthew Shipp and Ethel. Jaya for their generous support. Pre-performance talk with composer Evan Ziporyn and director Jay Scheib. This Sightlines Mr. Ziporyn’s work as a composer and per- event is free to all event ticket holders. former led to his receiving the 2007 USArtists Artist accommodation provided in part by The Hotel Walker Fellowship and 2004 American Academy Shattuck Plaza. This Sightlines event is free to all event ticket holders.

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