About

Gamelan Anak Tika (Cambridge Youth Gamelan) teaches youth about traditional gamelan music and dance of Bali, Indonesia through hands-on learning experiences delivered by experienced instructors. Our group is open to students in Grades 2 – 11 regardless of prior musical experience. We are an inclusive community of eager learners and we love welcoming new members to our group.

We are proudly supported by MIT (Music & Theater Arts) and private donors in the Cambridge community and beyond. We have also been supported by the Mass Cultural Council and Cambridge Arts Council in 2015-16 and 2017-18.

We are proud to announce that we have received a Cultural Sector Recovery Grant of $7,350 from the Mass Cultural Council. This grant was made possible through a one-time pandemic recovery appropriation secured by Mass Cultural Council’s partners in the Legislature. Funds from this grant will help the Cambridge Youth Gamelan support next year’s operations and programming budget, which were adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. We cannot thank the Mass Cultural Council – as well as the Massachusetts State Legislature – enough for their support of the Massachusetts Arts & Culture sector!

To learn more about how you can join and/or support our group, email us at cambridgeyouthgamelan@gmail.com

Meet the Instructor(s):

Emeric Viani (Co-Founder & Artistic Director)

Emeric Viani (he/him/his) is a music educator in the greater Boston area with special interests in non-traditional curriculum, world music, community music education, choral music, and Balinese gamelan. He is the Lower School music teacher at the Pike School in Andover, MA where he directs the after-school chorus for students in Grades 3-5 and an after-school Balinese gamelan ensemble for students in grades 3 – 6. He holds an M.A. in Music Education, & Ethnomusicology, B.M. in Music Education from the Eastman School of Music.

Mark Stewart (Co-Founder, Treasurer)

Mark Stewart (he/him/his) has been a member of Gamelan Galak Tika for more than 15 years. He toured with the group in its 2005 trip to Bali and has performed with them at numerous venues, including Boston Symphony Hall, Lincoln Center, Zankel Hall, and the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

EMMA TERRELL (ASSISTANT TEACHER, SECRETARY)

Emma Terrell (she/her/hers) is an arts education researcher, evaluator, and practitioner. Her work focuses on developing evaluation strategies to support organizations’ goals of improving culturally-sustaining educational experiencing through the arts and storytelling. Emma has worked with a variety of educational organizations within the arts, philanthropic, and entertainment industries, such as Carnegie Hall, the William Penn Foundation, Mattel, Disney, and Nickelodeon. As a research collaborator with WolfBrown, Emma has led collaborative evaluations for PlayUSA, the Lullaby Project, and the Community Music Center of Boston to create effective and relevant educational programs. Emma holds a Bachelor of Music from Rice University and a Master of Education from Harvard University.

CHIARA EVANS (ASSISTANT TEACHER)

Chiara Evans (she/her/hers) is a cardiovascular technical research assistant in Boston, MA. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Biology from Bucknell University, and was a member of the Bucknell University Gamelan Ensemble for 4 years. She studied abroad in Indonesia in 2020, and traveled to Bali in 2023 for a research project with Dr. Bethany Collier and the New Atlantic Chamber Gamelan. She is also a current member of Gamelan Galak Tika at MIT.