Biography


Ade Suparman, instrumentalist and composer of Sundanese music, was born in Purwakarta, West Java, in 1969. He started playing kacapi when he was 10 years old with his father. He then studied music theory and classical music (including vocal, Suling, Kendang and Gamelan) at Indonesia Art School (SMKI). He received his BA from Indonesian Art University (ISI) in Surakarta.

After his studies, he performed as a concert kacapist around the world. Besides performing, he has created a new learning method for Suling (bamboo flute), and has also published several method books for Sundanese instruments - Suling, Gamelan and Kacapi.

Ade has been a member of professional folk and classical music groups in Bandung, performing on Kacapi and Gamelan. He has recorded Sundanese traditional and contemporary music with well-known composers in West Java.

His travels abroad have taken him to India, South Korea, the Netherlands and the USA. While in the Netherlands, he performed as a kacapi soloist in Utretcht and Den Haag, and also taught Sundanese music in Stichtings Kunskring Siliwangi-Panglipur. He also teaches regularly in Bali for the San Diego-based Center for World Music.


International Teaching and Performance Highlights

 

Centre for World Music - Gamelan Intensive Summer Program (2000 - 2010)
Bali, Indonesia

Acadia University - Guest Artist Residency (2011, 2013)
Nova Scotia, Canada

Memorial University - Guest Artist Residency (2013)
Newfoundland, Canada

University of Washington, Seattle - Ethnomusicology Visiting Artist Residency (2012)
Washington, USA

UCLA - Lecture performance (2012)
California, USA

University of North Texas - Performance (2012)
Texas, USA

SMU - Guest Artist Residency (2011, 2013)
Texas, USA

Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music - Lecture and Workshop (2012, 2010)
Singapore

California State University San Marcos (2010)
California, USA
 
Palomar College - Workshop and Performance (2010)
California, USA
SMU Summer Intensive - Instructor in Indonesian Percussion (2010 - 2014)
Bali, Indonesia

Festival of Asia Pacific Intangible Cultural Heritage - Performance (2010)
South Korea

Sufi Mystic Festival Ruhaniyat - Performance (2010)
Mumbai, India

Performance (2008)
Australia

University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign - Workshop and Performance (2006)
Illinois, USA

San Diego State University - Workshop and Performance (2006)
California, USA

YST Conservatory of Music (Singapore) - Summer Gamelan Intensive (2010 - 2013)
Bali, Indonesia

Centre for World Music - Guest Artist Residency (2011, 2012, 2013)
California, USA

International Buk Festival - Taijon Expo (1993)
South Korea