Dear gamelan list,

It is with sadness that I post this notice on the list. I have received news from Bali that the amazing gender player Wayan Loceng from Banjar Babakan, Sukawati passed away early this morning in a hospital where he was hospitalized since yesterday evening. The direct cause of his death was a heart attack in the early hours of the morning.

As described in Michael Tenzer’s book, it is not an overstatement to say that Wayan Loceng was the reigning ‘king of gender’, with an amazing charisma and unique character of his own. He played the gender behind legendary dalangs such as Granyam and Madra amongst others, and his involvement in the musical development of the gender wayang of the Sukawati village in the last half century exceeded by far than that of an average performer. At least, that is my understanding from my conversations with him, since I myself has been under his guidance only since the middle 90s.

The ngaben will be held on the 19th. I have talked on the phone with Ketut, his eldest son, and he has asked me to send the message to his father’s students in the states, Canada etc. and I thought a post on the list would be the best way.

Mari Nabeshima

Tokyo

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