Nano suratno biography

written by Jody Diamond
based on field work conducted in Indonesia in
© all rights reserved

R.L. Martopangrawit

I Wayan Sadra

Sukerta, Pande Made

Suratno, Nano (Nano S.)

Siagian, Rizaldi

Sidarta, Otok Bima

Subono, Blacius (B.)

Subowo, Yohanes Y.)

Sutanto

Suwardi, Aloysius (A.L.)

Syukur, Slamet Abdul

born in Tekakula, Singaraja, Bali, Indonesia

In , began to be active in music groups that played in the temple activities of both his birthplace and elsewhere. in , entered the high school level music conservatory in Denpasar, Bali, in the (Balinese) music department. One of his specialities at that time was the bowed double-string fiddle called rebab. In , he entered A.S.K.I. Surakarta, graduating in While he was at A.s.K.I. (college level traditional music conservatory) he founded and directed the Balinese gamelan groups, as well as participating in rehearsals and performances of a new style of music called "Eksperimen Karawitan Baru", or new experimental music on traditional instruments. He became a teacher of Balinese music and composition at A.S.K.I. (later renamed S.T.S.I.). His approach to teaching composition emphasizes the exploration of new sounds; his classes are like small workshops where students improvising and experiment to find new sounds in a wide variety of material -- working with gamelan instruments as well as "found" instruments like glasses, marbles, tin roofing, crunchy shrimp and rice crackers and the human body. He in known for encouraging his students to be "crazy" and not to be afraid to try something new.

He has been a participant at Jakarta&#;s Young Choreographers&#; Festival (), and Young Composers&#; Festival in , 81, At the Indonesian Pavilion at EXPO&#;86 in Vancouver, Canada, his composition "Asanawali" for Balines

Suratno, Nano prolific Indonesian composer, known as Nano S.; b. Pasar Kemis Tarogong, West Java, April 4, He earned degrees from the Akademi Seni Tari Indonesia (A.S.T.I.) Bandung () and Sekolah Tinggi Seni Indonesia (S.T.S.I.) Surakarta (); also studied with Daeng Sutikna (music), Syafei (literature), Tjetje Somantri (choreography and dance), and, especially, Mang Koko (music). He formed his own dance company and then performed with Koko’s group, Ganda Mekar. He began composing experimental works for degung, a traditional Sundanese chamber ensemble of tuned gongs, drums, and bamboo flute; in his Sangkuriang was performed at the important national festival Pekan Komponis Muda (Young Composers’ Festival); he also began composing highly expressive instrumental music (“karawitan total”), and in mounted Umbul-umbul, involving 75 players in a mixture of over 15 Sundanese styles, on Indonesian TV. Nano S. sees many of his songs as a means of making traditional music more accessible to Sundanese youths; he often recasts classical melodies in forms that conform to popular music styles of the West. Even in his more experimental instrumental works, which he calls “musik total” or “musik murni” (i.e., ’’absolute” music), he neither borrows from foreign sources nor uses diatonic tuning; while such works have not yet found a place in the standard repertoire of Sunda, audiences abroad have been receptive; in , on a commission from the American Gamelan Inst. in Hanover, N.H., he composed and recorded Jemplang Polansky, inspired by his confusion upon listening to the computer music of Larry Polansky, and Galura (Emotion; ), an instrumental solo piece for kecapi (plucked zither). In he toured in Canada and the U.S.; after appearing in Japan (), he became a guest lecturer and composer at the Univ. of Calif, at Santa Cruz (). In he directed the touring program “Sunda: From Village to City,” presented in the U.S. at its Festival of Indonesia. Nano S. i