MICHAEL B. BAKAN, Associate Professor of Ethnomusicology, Head of Ethnomusicology and World Music, and Director of Balinese Gamelan Ensemble, did his undergraduate studies in percussion performance at the University of Toronto (B.Mus. 1985) and his graduate studies in ethnomusicology at the University of California, Los Angeles (Ph.D. 1993). He is the author of two books: World Music: Traditions and Transformations and Music of Death and New Creation: Experiences in the World of Balinese Gamelan Beleganjur (University of Chicago Press, 1999), the latter of which was reviewed in The Times (London) as one of the two “most significant publications on Balinese music in almost half a century.” His other publications include peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters covering a wide range of topics, from the ethnomusicology of autism, Balinese gamelan, and world percussion, to multicultural music education, electronic music technology, and jazz history. He is the series editor of the Focus on World Music book series published by Routledge and former editor of the ABC-CLIO World Music series.

At FSU, Bakan is the director of the university’s Balinese gamelan ensemble, Sekaa Gong Hanuman Agung. He also directs the Music-Play Project, a medical ethnomusicology program for children on the autism spectrum and their families. He has composed numerous neo-traditional and intercultural/experimental works for gamelan, is active as a professional percussionist, has held elected and appointed offices in the Society for Ethnomusicology (SEM) and College Music Society, and formerly served as president of the Southeast-Caribbean regional chapter of SEM.

Dr. Bakan maintains a personal website at www.worldmusic-bakan.com