Thomas Whitman (b. 1960) began his musical studies with cellist Harry Wimmer. He studied composition with George Crumb, Gerald Levinson, Max Lifchitz, and Richard Wernick, among others. As a Luce Scholar in 1986-7, he studied in Bali, Indonesia with I Madé Gerindem. Other prizes and honors include an ASCAP Foundation Grant; artist residencies at MacDowell and Yaddo; and commissions from many ensembles, including Orchestra 2001, Network for New Music, North/South Consonance, Mélomanie, and Dolce Suono Ensemble.. Whitman’s compositions include chamber music, dance and film scores, and six operas. He has served on the faculty of Swarthmore College since 1990, where he is the founder and co-director of Gamelan Semara Santi, the Philadelphia area’s first Indonesian percussion orchestra. He has taught Indonesian performing arts for many years as a volunteer in urban public schools, and currently collaborates with  Modero Dance and Gapura Philadelphia to offer gamelan to Philadelphia’s Indonesian-American community. Selected recordings are available on Avie, North/South, and Albany Records. Sheet music is available through SubitoMusic.com.