Tenzer gets word out about Balinese music abroad

Maggie Tiojakin, Contributor/Boston

In today's MTV era, where Britney Spears' on-again, off-again romances often become the center of world attention, the country's traditional music is about as popular as the textbooks that mention it.

Outside of the country's national borders, however, Indonesian traditional music has sparked an unexpectedly wide range of international interest.

Hard to believe, but true.

Michael Tenzer, 47, who proudly holds a doctorate degree in music composition from the University of California, Berkeley, has been promoting Balinese music and the arts for over two decades now. And from the looks of it, he is nowhere near finished.

Tenzer, whose resume alone takes up several pages, is a man with many reputations. Aside from being a skilled composer, performer and educator, he is also a scholar whose writing on ethnomusicology has filled the pages of many scholarly publications.

Currently, he can be found wandering around the corridors of the School of Music of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, where he teaches music composition, theory and gamelan traditional orchestra performance.

Two of his books -- Balinese Music (University of Washington Press, 1991) and Gamelan Gong Kebyar: The Art of Twentieth Century Balinese Music (Chicago Press, 2000) -- won much critical acclaim. His compositions, particularly one that was commissioned for a chamber work, Sources of Current, were hailed by the New York Times as "deft, sophisticated, and inventive".

Nevertheless, Tenzer's extensive love affair with Balinese music and arts began in 1976, when he incidentally overheard a friend's conversation involving gamelan music. Unable to contain his curiosity, Tenzer immediately purchased his first gamelan record.

"Within 10 minutes (of listening to the record) I had made a pact with myself to go to Bali and learn how to make the beautiful and challenging sounds that were rushing out of the speakers," wrote Tenzer in the preface to his book, Balinese Music.

He wasn't kidding.

A year later, soon after he turned 20, Tenzer found himself crossing from Banyuwangi, East Java, to Gilimanuk, West Bali, on a ferry. Already delirious from a number of illnesses as a result of the three-day trip, he wrote, "I remember how the (temple) gate seemed to welcome me".

Upon his arrival, Tenzer settled in Peliatan village and took residency with a Balinese painter, Ketut Madra. His first lessons began at the National High School of Music and Dance (formerly KOKAR) in Denpasar, Bali.

"I started on three instruments at the same time: drum, metallophone and gong row."

He remembered that during his six-month stay in Peliatan village, he would conveniently travel by bemo (public transportation) to school for his daily lessons. "It was a wonderful experience," added Tenzer, "and I learned a lot."

One of his first teachers at the school was a musician named Nyoman Sumandhi who, according to Tenzer, treated him like a member of the family. "(Sumandhi) took me all over Bali on the back of his Honda."

At the end of his stay, Tenzer came back to the U.S. and continued his studies at Yale. Then, after receiving his bachelor's degree, Tenzer launched his next journey to the University of California, Berkeley, where he started graduate school in Western Music.

It was there, in 1979, that he co-founded Gamelan Sekar Jaya (GSJ) together with two fellow musicians: Rachel Cooper and I Wayan Suweca, a Balinese drummer.

"We modeled ourselves on the community-based musical clubs of Bali and attracted many enthusiastic members," said Tenzer.

Even so, the road ahead was not easy. The biggest challenge in organizing a community-based gamelan group, said Tenzer, was the sense of "getting the technique and feeling to rise above a certain level at which [the group] tends to stagnate".

The group has since performed in front of a live audience in Bali, wowing even the most prominent Balinese performers. In 2000, GSJ was presented with the Dharma Kusuma award by the Balinese government for its distinguished cultural service.

For a man who has spent 27 years of his life immersing himself in a culture that he was not born into, Tenzer projects a great amount of love and perseverance of his adopted homeland.

A native of New York, Tenzer often finds himself at a crossroads among a variety of cultures, thanks to all the traveling he does. Though he did not come from a strong musical background, Tenzer proves that the love of music alone can take you places.

"You just need to want to understand and listen closely," said Tenzer, who has also taken up an interest in sub-Saharan music.

Tenzer said that he didn't have any particular bond with music until he turned 12 -- at which time he became caught up with jazz and ragtime music.

Asked whether there was a certain musician out there whom he idolizes, Tenzer replied tersely, "You can't make me choose".

Regardless, he did convey that throughout his career, he continues to look for mentors. "I have had many mentors, but right now I'm without one."

His most recent mentor was Jose Maceda, whom Tenzer described as "a unique person with an amazing life". Maceda was a Filipino musician who gained international acclaim in his effort to blend traditional music, particularly Indonesian and Filipino.

Like Tenzer, Maceda, who died last may at age 87, was a prominent figure in the field of ethnomusicology, and was named the National Artist of the Philippines in 1997.

Over the years, whether it is in Bali or overseas, Tenzer has only good things to say regarding his experiences of working alongside Balinese musicians, of which there are too many to mention.

"I have had overall extremely positive interaction and learned from all of [these musicians]," said Tenzer. "In return, I have worked hard to promote their music and help others get access to it."

Today, Tenzer is happily married to Pamela Hetrick, an elementary music teacher, with whom he has fathered two children: Molly, 14, and Maya, 10. Both of his daughters are very musical, said Tenzer, for "they love music and sing in choirs".

The fact that he is often wrapped up in countless activities and projects, including the upcoming volume of Analytical Studies in World Music, doesn't mean he is missing out on quality time with his family.

"I cook dinner every night and help the kids with their homework," said Tenzer humbly. The rest of the time he spends reviewing and preparing his classes, or do something fun for himself. "I'm a professor, so I think this is a normal kind of life in that profession."

And the weekly eight-hour gamelan practice?

"Except that," he answered.

Despite the increasing number of people in the international community interested in Balinese music, Tenzer argues that gamelan music will never turn into a trend-setting popular music.

"Which is good," he said, "because I like it just the way it is."