MICHAEL B. BAKAN, Associate Professor of Ethnomusicology and director of FSU's Balinese Gamelan Ensemble, Sekaa Gong Hanuman Agung, received the B. Mus. degree from the University of Toronto (percussion performance) and the M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles (ethnomusicology). He is the author of the book Music of Death and New Creation: Experiences in the World of Balinese Gamelan Beleganjur (University of Chicago Press, 1999), which was selected to the Choice Outstanding Academic Titles list for the year 2000 and was hailed as one of the most significant publications on Balinese music in almost half a century by The Times (London). His other publications include articles in Ethnomusicology, Asian Music, and other leading journals, as well as chapters in the books California Soul, Multicultural Perspectives in Music Education, and Making Connections: Multicultural Music Education and the National Standards.

Bakan has composed numerous original compositions, including Unyai, for electric guitar, flute, double bass, and Balinese gamelan gong kebyar; B.A.Ph.Pet, for hip-hop DJ, synthesizer, electric bass, and gamelan; and Gending Beruang, for three Œchamber' gamelans. As a percussionist, he has performed with leading musical artists from around the world and with championship beleganjur groups in Bali. Bakan serves on the Society for Ethnomusiology (SEM) Council and as a special advisor to the SEM Education Committee. He formerly served as President of the Society for Ethnomusicology's Southeast/Caribbean Chapter and on the Mentoring Committee of the College Music Society.