Peter Steele

Peter Steele is a PhD candidate in ethnomusicology at Wesleyan University. His dissertation, “Balinese Hybridities: Balinese Music as Global Phenomena,” examines the global popularity of the Balinese performing arts in the 21st century. He is also active as a composer and performer. For four years, he directed “Gamelan Wira Surya,” at Wesleyan University. His works have been performed at the prestigious Bali Arts Festival several times. Peter has been fortunate to collaborate with many of the top performers of Balinese music and dance from Indonesia, North America and Japan. In 2010, he produced one of the first ever recordings of seven-tone Balinese gender wayang. He is also the former director of education and community outreach at New York’s, “Gamelan Dharma Swara.” While at Bates College, he will teach courses in ethnomusicology and direct the Bates College Gamelan Ensemble.