Leadership
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Claire Fassnacht
Founder and Director
A Chicago native, Claire discovered gamelan in 2010 at Lawrence University with
I Dewa Ketut Alit Adnyana. In 2015, she completed a one and a half year residency in Bali as a Darmasiswa Fellow, studying traditional Balinese gamelan and dance at the music conservatory (ISI). Claire has performed as musician and dancer with several reputable gamelan ensembles in Bali, Indonesia and in the U.S., including as a member for two years with Gamelan Galak Tika in Boston, MA. In 2017 she founded Chicago Balinese Gamelan together with I Ketut Gede Asnawa and I Nyoman Mahartayasa.
Ni Made Yunirika
Board Member
Yuni is passionate about increasing awareness of Balinese fine arts and culture and has actively performed with several Gamelan groups throughout the United States. Yuni and her twin sister were taught to dance by their mother, Putu Oka Mardiani, at the age of five in Bali and began playing Gamelan at the age of ten in Kansas City, Missouri, directed by their father, Ketut Gede Asnawa. Yuni and her sister were awarded the Indonesian Youth Who Excel in 2012 by the Asian American Coalition of Chicago for excellence in community service, leadership, performance, and teaching. Yuni is currently a marketing professional in the fitness industry and continues to promote the Balinese fine arts.
Ivan Indrautama
Board Member
Ivan Indrautama is a native of Indonesia and has been living in Chicago since early 2000. Ivan spent the last 20 years as a software engineer, building e-commerce platforms for online stores, including one for a successful re-election political campaign. Ivan is a maker, tinkering with mechanical and electronic things. He is also a photographer, and often you'll find him documenting Chicago Balinese Gamelan performances.
I Ketut Gede Asnawa
Artistic Adviser
I Ketut Gede Asnawa is a composer, performer, and scholar from Bali, Indonesia. He taught at the government-sponsored secondary- and tertiary-level conservatories of Balinese music and his compositions have been featured around the world including the Festival of Young Composers in Jakarta and the annual Bali Arts Festival. An accomplished gamelan musician and teacher, Asnawa has toured internationally and has worked with a multitude of private and university-level gamelan groups. He is currently a faculty member in the School of Music at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he teaches various styles of Balinese gamelan.
Putu Oka Mardiani
Dance Adviser
Putu Oka Mardiani is a professional Balinese dancer, dance teacher, and choreographer, from Bali, Indonesia. In addition to performing throughout Bali and Indonesia, she has toured throughout Japan, the United States, and Canada. She taught and choreographed dance at the University of Maryland Baltimore County from 1989-1991, the Université de Montréal in 1994, and the University of Missouri Kansas City from 2003 to 2006. She is presently a dance teacher-in-residence at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
Martino Tangkar
Board Member
I Nyoman Mahartayasa
Board Member
Nyoman was born in Bali and moved to Chicago in 1999 to work as a software engineer. Nyoman is the co-founder of Indonesian Performing Arts Chicago, which promotes Indonesian dance and music in Chicago area. In 2009 he organized the international Ramayana Dance Drama performance in collaboration with the Indian and Thailand American communities and the International Ramayana conference in 2010 at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb.
Patrick Horton
Board Member
Patrick Horton is a relative newcomer to the music of Bali and began playing with the Chicago Balinese Gamelan in 2018. Before joining this ensemble, he studied with I Dewa Putu Berata and the members of the Çudamani gamelan as a part of the Çudamani Summer Institute in Pengosekan, Ubud, Bali. Previously, Patrick spent 11 years teaching middle school and high school instrumental music and music technology in Ohio and Indiana. He is currently a PhD student at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois where he is studying world music, technology, and creativity in music education.
Jillian Eichel
Board Member
Jillian Eichel has lived in Chicago for over 20 years, is a former therapist, and current life coach and corporate trainer in social and emotional intelligence for the Chicago-based Wright Foundation. Music has always been a part of Jillian’s life whether it was studying and performing classical piano throughout childhood or dancing salsa and learning Latin jazz. Jillian joined the CBG community in 2018 after taking a trip to Bali and becoming intrigued by the vibrant musical culture there. After her first visit to CBG’s rehearsal she was partnered with the Ceng-ceng and has been banging away ever since. She is excited to bring some of her non-musical gifts to the Board.