I Wayan Sinti (Bali), Gamelan Gambuh, Gamelan Siwa Nada

I Wayan Sinti, M.A., has been teaching, composing, playing, and researching Balinese music for 50 years, and is regarded as one of the most important carriers of musical knowledge in a variety of Balinese vocal and instrumental genres.

Pak Sinti is the student of five of the most important Balinese musicians of the twentieth century: I Nyoman Kaler, I Wayan Lotring, I Gusti Putu Madia Geria, I Wayan Berata, and I Nyoman Rembang. Some of the ritual 7-tone music and vocal forms he learned from other teachers and priests have not been widely taught for more than two generations, leaving Pak Sinti as one of the few heirs of this knowledge.

He taught at KOKAR, the State High School for the Arts, in Denpasar, Bali, for nearly 40 years, and also taught for 11 years at ASTI (now STSI), the Indonesian College for the Arts. In addition, Pak Sinti has spent more than 30 years teaching almost every form of Balinese music to banjar (neighborhood association) gamelan and vocal clubs in every region of Bali. Many of these groups have gone on to win island-wide competitions, and these teaching endeavors have resulted in the revival of musical forms in certain villages.

Pak Sinti studied at San Francisco State University and San Diego State University, where he earned an M.A. in Ethnomusicology. He also taught Balinese music at these universities and at the Center for World Music in Berkeley, California.

In 1994 Pak Sinti invented Gamelan Manikasanti, a new form of gamelan on which Balinese music of many different kinds can be performed. This enriches Balinese musical culture by reviving and revitalizing the playing of older traditional repertoires and provides the opportunity to create new works, utilizing the old scale systems. Pak Sinti has composed instrumental and vocal music, works for gamelan, processional music, and music for large dance, music, and drama performances.

Pak Sinti has toured Australia, Korea, China, Japan, Singapore, Canada, Monaco, Belgium, and France. He has received many honors, including an award from the President of Indonesia. He also received an award while serving as the director of Gamelan Sekkar Jaya in California in 1985.

Pak Sinti has been a visiting artist in the Ethnomusicology Program at the University of Washington since January 2004. While at the University of Washington, he has taught Gamelan Gambuh in addition to the newest form of gamelan, Siwa Nada, which he created with the help of his students in October 2005.