Contemporary
Music for
Gamelan

Arham Aryadi is a distinguished Indonesian composer renowned for his innovative approach to music. As the founder and Music Director of the Indonesian Contemporary Gamelan Ensemble (ICGE), he holds a Bachelor's in Music Composition from the Conservatory of Music at Pelita Harapan University and a Master of Arts in Urban Arts Creation from the Postgraduate Jakarta Institute of Arts. He is active in education, teaching at various universities, and co-founded the Indonesian National Orchestra (INO) with composer Franki Raden. Currently Chairman of the Music Committee at the Jakarta Arts Council (2023–2026), his work centres on the fusion of Indonesian traditional music with Western classical and electronic elements. His compositions have been performed by Ensemble Modern, Hong Kong New Music Ensemble, Ensemble Multilatérale, Quatour Bozzini, and others. He is a member of the Asia Traditional Music Committee and serves on the Asian Cultural Council (ACC) Korea.

Dieter Mack studied composition, piano and music theory, becoming professor for music theory in Freiburg in 1986 and professor for composition at the MHS Lübeck since 2003. Study and research trips led him mainly to Indonesia — altogether ten years — where he studied Balinese gamelan music; in 1982 he founded his own gamelan ensemble. He worked in Indonesia's music education system from 1988, including as DAAD guest lecturer at UPI Bandung (1992–1995) and as coordinator of a Ford Foundation research project (1996–2007). He gives regular masterclasses in composition across East and Southeast Asia, Canada, and New Zealand, and composes mostly chamber music with a focus on percussion and wind instruments.

Septian Dwi Cahyo is a composer whose work explores the intersection of contemporary music, Indonesian musical practices, and natural pattern systems. He studied composition with Beat Furrer and Sarah Nemtsov at the Kunstuniversität Graz and Mozarteum University Salzburg, developing his practice through Impuls, CIEL Academy, and the Young Composers Meeting. His work has been performed across Southeast Asia, Europe, the United States, East Asia, and Mexico by Talea Ensemble, Orkest de Ereprijs, Spółdzielnia Muzyczna, and Mondrian Ensemble, at festivals including Talea Encore, the Andriessen Festival, Limina Festival, and Oranjewoud Festival. He has curated the series Beyond Threshold – New Voices from Indonesia in Bangkok and served as guest editor for Contemporary Music Review Vol. 43, issue 1. His scores are published by BabelScores.

Ivan Liuzzo is an Italian composer and visual designer of Ethiopian and Eritrean origins, based in Basel. His artistic practice moves between musical composition, visual research, the study of Balinese gamelan, and a deep interest in sacred vocal traditions — a personal attraction that leads him to seek direct contact with the places and communities where these traditions are practiced.

His musical work is characterised by instrumental ensembles and constellations conceived to allow for long, apparently static stretches of time, in which perception becomes the primary field of action: the non-recognition of the sound source and acoustic hallucination build a state of tension in the listener. His interest in sacred music is bound to this research: what draws him is the capacity of these traditions to generate a suspended space.

He trained with composer Giorgio Netti from 2017 to 2021, before continuing composition studies with J.C. Walter and Michel Roth at the Hochschule für Musik Basel, where he completed his Bachelor of Arts in 2024. He is currently enrolled in the Master of Arts in Digital Communication Environments at HGK Basel. In 2025 he received the Global Research Project Grant from Pro Helvetia for a residency in Bali, and a Researchbeiträge from the Canton of Basel-Stadt for Tashtego. His work was published in 2025 by ZOK Records (IREI/Tikur) and Dito Publishing (Gentle Fire Basel, in collaboration with Simone Spampinato).

Krishna Sutedja is an Indonesian composer, musician, and gamelan specialist based in Brussels. He received his training at the Indonesian Institute of the Arts (ISI) Denpasar and at Codarts University of the Arts in Rotterdam. He is currently active as composer, performer, and gamelan teacher at the Embassy of Indonesia in Brussels, and is the founder and artistic director of Gamelan Mudrasvara, a Brussels-based ensemble dedicated to the performance and promotion of Indonesian music in Europe. He is also a member of the Polyphème ensemble in Paris, where he engages in experimental projects combining gamelan with darbuka and electronic music.

Werner Kaegi (Uznach, 17 June 1926 – South of France, 16 March 2024) was one of the most significant figures in the history of European electroacoustic and computer music. Born into a musical family in the canton of St. Gallen, he pursued studies in piano, musicology, art history, and mathematical logic in Zurich and Basel, completing his doctoral thesis in 1951 with a mathematical analysis of Bach's contrapuntal techniques. He subsequently studied composition with Paul Hindemith in Zurich, and later in Paris with Arthur Honegger and Louis Aubert, where his encounter with Pierre Schaeffer and Musique Concrète proved decisive.

From 1963 to 1970 he worked at the Centre de Recherches Sonores of Radio Suisse Romande in Geneva. In 1971 he joined the Institute of Sonology in Utrecht, where he developed the VOSIM sound synthesis system and the MIDIM composition programme. Dialogue (3rd Version), for kendhang and electronics (1983–84), places his electronic language in direct conversation with one of the most ancient instruments of the Balinese gamelan tradition. Werner Kaegi passed away in March 2024 at the age of 97.

Imke Frank is a cellist, chamber musician, and music educator based in Bern. She studied with Boris Pergamenschikow in Cologne and with Heinrich Schiff and Thomas Demenga in Basel, and has performed at venues including the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Wigmore Hall, and the Berliner Philharmonie. She is a member of Collegium Novum Zürich, with whom she has worked under Pierre Boulez, Enno Poppe, and Titus Engel, among others. Since 2024 she is head of the Master Performance programme at the Musikhochschule Basel.

Sascha Armbruster studied saxophone in Basel and Paris with Iwan Roth, Claude Delangle, and Marcus Weiss. He is professor of saxophone, study coordinator, and deputy head of institute at the Hochschule Luzern — Musik. He performs as a guest with orchestras including the Sinfonieorchester Basel and the Orchester der Oper Zürich, and is a member of Collegium Novum Zürich, souyz21 (Zurich), and the ARTE Quartett (Basel).

Wayan Pitriana is an Indonesian singer, musician, and dancer specialising in both traditional and contemporary Balinese performance. Her artistic training and practice are rooted in Balinese classical traditions while extending into interdisciplinary and international collaborations. She has performed extensively in Indonesia and Europe with Gamelan Mudrasvara, Het Concreet (Tilburg), Dwi Bhumi (Rotterdam), and Nusantara Band (Brussels). Her work is characterised by a strong integration of vocal, musical, and choreographic expression, allowing her to navigate fluidly between traditional repertoire and contemporary stage contexts.