Barbara Benary is a composer and ethnomusicologist, and co-founder and artistic director of Gamelan Son of Lion, a new music ensemble active in downtown New York since the 1970s. The ensemble is dedicated to creating and performing new music in many styles using the instruments of the Indonesian gamelan percussion ensemble. She has been involved since college years with combining gamelan with her own compositions and influences from a variety of other world musics. She also writes chamber music for more conventional instrumentation as well as music for theatre and dance. Her scores are distributed by Frog Peak Music / American Gamelan Institute; her gamelan recordings are available from Innova and Gamelan Son of Lion, and her chamber music from New World Records.
