Olivia DrakeSumarsam, the University Professor of Music, was named one of the 50 "successful" Indonesians in the United States by the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in 2012. In collaboration with the Indonesian Consulate General in the U.S., the Embassy is publishing a book titled Secret of My Success: 50 Prominent Indonesian[s] Share Their Lessons on Life and Remarkable Career[s]. Sumarsam will contribute a 3,000 word essay for the publication. The goal of the book is to inspire Indonesian communities in the U.S. At Wesleyan, Sumarsam teaches Indonesia music and theater, focusing on the performance, history and theory of gamelan and…
University Professor of Music Sumarsam is the author of a paper titled "Binary Division in Javanese Gamelan and Socio-Cosmological Order," which was published in the Proceedings 1st Symposium Singapore: ICTM Study Group on Performing Arts of Southeast Asia. The abstract of the paper is online here. According to the abstract, “The paper presented by Sumarsam exhibited a firm commitment to indepth musicological analysis of aspects of gamelan music, yet strongly connecting the music analysis to aspects of cultural studies, that is, the social and cosmological order of Javanese society.” In addition, BBC quoted Sumarsam in their broadcasting on "A History of…
Sumarsam, University Professor of Music, is the author of the essay, "Past and Present Issues of Islam within the Central Javanese Gamelan and Wayang," published in Divine Inspirations: Music and Islam in Indonesia by Oxford University Press, pages 45-79, in 2011. According to the abstract: "Sumarsam's contribution to the volume addresses Islam in the context and development of the Javanese gamelan and wayang kulit shadow play. The chapter uniquely combines the interpretation of primarily Javanese and European texts, the author's personal experience as teacher, performer, and practitioner of gamelan and wayang kulit, and a assessment of the public attitudes of…
Sumarsam MA '76, University Professor of Music, participated in an ethnomusicology panel during the State of Indonesian Studies Conference April 28 at Cornell University. Sumarsam spoke on "Javanese Music Historiography: The Lost Gamelan of Gresik." The interdisciplinary conference focused on Indonesia's anthropology, art history, history, language, government and ethnomusicology. Marc Perlman MA '78, Ph.D. '94, associate professor at Brown University; Martin Hatch '63, MA'69, associate professor at Cornell University; Kaja McGowan '82, associate professor at Cornell; and Christopher Miller MA '02, a Wesleyan ethnomusicology Ph.D. candidate, also participated in the conference. The conference was hosted by Cornell's Southeast Asian Program.…
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