Artist, Educator, Musician, Composer

I NYOMAN WENTEN is one of Bali’s most accomplished dancers and musicians and is a highly celebrated teacher and performer.

He is deservingly a legendary Indonesian performing artists and is recognized and celebrated as a true master of Balinese music and dance. Furthermore, he has distinguished himself as a prominent teacher of those art forms in the US for many decades. A native of Bali, a small island in the Indonesian archipelago, he has descended from many generations of great artists. He first studied with his late grandfather, who was a master puppeteer, musician, dancer and teacher. Mr. Wenten deepened his traditional training with formal study, first at Bali’s Conservatory of Music and Dance known as (Kokar), then at the National Academy of Music and Dance in Yogyakarta, Central Java, known as ASTI. 

He has studied with many national renown artists and great teachers in Java such as: K.P.H. (Kanjeng Pangeran Harya) Notoprojo (known as Pak Cokro), Romo Suryobronto, KRT Brontodiningrat, Romo Netyo, Romo Sasminta Mardowo, Romo Nggung Kisowo, Bapak S. Maridi etc. He has also studied with widely recognized Balinese artists and teachers such as: Bapak Wayan Berata, Bapak Nyoman Kakul, Bapak Ida Bagus Raka Bongkasa, Bapak Agung  Raka Batuan, Bapak Agung Oka Sading, Bapak Wayan Rendi, Bapak Nyoman Rembang, Bapak Raka Saba, Bapak Gusti Nyoman Panji etc. Wenten also holds an MFA degree from the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) in Valencia, and a Ph.D in Ethnomusicology from UCLA. 

From 1964-1966, during President Sukarno’s era, he was a member of the Presidential Cultural Exchange. He has had performed for different Heads of State and dignitaries in many part of the world, including: China, Thailand, Cambodia, Japan, North and South Korea, the Philippines, Egypt etc. 

Wenten is known not only for his traditional music and dance but also for his creative East-West compositions and performance work. He has collaborated with numerous musicians, dancers, composers and choreographers, including: Morton Subotnick, Elaine Barkin, Miriam Scott, Robert Kyr, George Lewis, David Rosenboom, L Subramaniam, Adam Rudolph, S. Maridi, Sardono W. Kusumo, Nyoman Cerita, and recently with Linda Sohln Elison, artistic director and principal choreographer for Rhapsody and Taps.  This modern collaboration garnered the prestigious Lester Horton Prize for an outstanding musical composition; a 45minutes piece which consisted of a fourpart dance choreography.

In 2003 he performed in Hong Kong collaborating with the Beijing Opera in an adaptation of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “The Magic Flute”. Pak Wenten has also performed multiple times at The Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles, with his own US domestic based group “Gamelan Burat Wangi” (Fragrant Offering). In October 2005 Wenten led his other gamelan group “Bharata Muni,”from his village of Sading, Bali, To a multi-week tour of Mexico.  This ensemble consisted of 48 musicians and dancers on tour to many major cities in Mexico for three weeks.  The following year (2006) due to their outstanding performances, Wenten’s Bharata Muni was nominated for the prestigious “Las Lunas” award for the best foreign group to perform in Mexico during the year of 2005. 

Nyoman Wenten has also collaborated with a Canadian playwright Mr William Maranda to produce a music, and dance theater based on the Greek Story the King Oedipus. This spectacular showpiece involved 75 musicians, dancers, Cak, (monkey chanters) and actors.  It was performed at the “Taman Budaya,” Performing Arts Center in Denpasar, Bali for The Bali Arts Festival 2006.  

In November 2007, Pak Wenten collaborated with composer/musician David Rosenboom, and dancers/choreographers Nanik Wenten, Hiroko Hojo, Bob Carroll and Andriana Mitchell, to perform in Denpasar, Bali for the Indonesia Arts Festival International V.  Additionally, in October 2009, Pak Wenten once again brought this same collaboration to Jakarta for the Indonesia Arts Festival VI. 

Most recently, Nyoman Wenten’s last two collaborations were with Rhapsody in Taps for the company’s 35th anniversary celebration, and with Open Gate Theatre presenting Hecuba: A Mixed Media Opera, the story based on the Euripides Play.

Pak Wenten’s teaching career has consisted of multiple international venues. He has taught at many prestigious universities and venues consisting of: The Indonesia Arts Institute (ISI) in Yogyakarta, Central Java, ISI Denpasar, Bali, The National Conservatory of Music and Dance in Yogyakarta and Surakarta, Java, and multiple gamelan music and dance programs throughout Asia, The United States, Canada, Mexico and Europe.  Domestically, Nyoman Wenten has instructed at: The Center for World Music in Berkeley, U.C Berkeley, UCLA, UCSD, SDSU, San Francisco State University, San Jose State University, Loyola Marymount University, University of Wisconsin, Lewis and Clark University, Portland, Oregon, Goldsmith College, East London, Mills College, Oakland, Washington University, Seattle, UBC, Simon Fraser University, BC, Canada, and Pomona College, just to name a few.

Since 1988 Pak Wenten has recorded and produced numerous gamelan CDs with C.M.P. Recording Company of Germany and has recorded more than thirty-five gamelan ensembles from West Java, Central and East Java, and the island of Bali and Lombok. Currently, he is member of the Herb Alpert School of Music faculty and California Institute of the Arts.  Pak Wenten is also the recipient of the prestigious Nicholas England Chair, and the Nellie Award from the California Institute of the Arts Alumni Association 2008, for outstanding service and commitment to the Arts and the CalArts community.  

Most recently, he has received a Legendary Musician Award an award given by Pacific Trade and Culture Alliance in recognition of outstanding achievements in international music and dance and service to the community. Pak Wenten has also received a special award given by two members of the United States Congressional House of Representatives the Honorable Loretta Sanchez and Ed Royce in honor of his continuous endeavors to serving diverse communities.