Weintraub, Andrew N. 1962- (Andrew Noah Weintraub)

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Weintraub, Andrew N. 1962- (Andrew Noah Weintraub)

PERSONAL:

Born October 8, 1962. Education: University of California at Santa Cruz, B.A., 1985; University of Hawaii, M.A., 1990; University of California at Berkeley, Ph.D., 1997.

ADDRESSES:

Home—PA. Office—University of Pittsburgh, 305 Music Bldg., Pittsburgh, PA 15260. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Ethnomusicologist, writer. University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, department of music, associate professor, 1997—; Ford Foundation Grant, co-director, 2003-06; contributor to various journals and collections; regular presenter at music conferences.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Charles Seeger Prize, Society for Ethnomusicology, 1990; Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad Fellowship, 1994-95; Innovation in Education Award, University of Pittsburgh, 2001-02.

WRITINGS:

Power Plays: Wayang Golek Puppet Theater of West Java, Ohio University Press (Athens, OH), 2004.

Contributor to various collections and journals, including Asian Theatre Journal, Asian Music, Perfect Beat, and Ethnomusicology.

SIDELIGHTS:

Andrew N. Weintraub was born October 8, 1962. Educated at the University of California at Santa Cruz, where he earned his bachelor's degree, Weintraub continued his studies first at the University of Hawaii, earning his master's degree, and then at the University of California at Berkeley, where he graduated with his doctorate. An ethnomusicologist, writer, and educator, he serves on the faculty at the University of Pittsburgh, where he is an assistant professor in the department of music. His primary areas of research and academic interest include the performing arts of Indonesia, with a particular focus on the theater of West Java, and both the music and dance of Sunda (the West Java people). He has taught courses covering topics such as the study of popular music, cultural theory and musical practice, an introduction to world music, Southeastern Asian music, and Gamelan. Beyond his endeavors as an academic, Weintraub has written articles for a number of journals, including Asian Music, Asian Theatre Journal, Perfect Beat, Balungan, and Ethnomusicology. His subjects have ranged from Hawaii's assorted ethnic communities and the role of music for the different populations to an English translation of a Sundanese puppet-theater performance that lasted for an entire night. He has won several awards for his efforts, including the Charles Seeger Prize, given by the Society for Ethnomusicology in 1990, the Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad Fellowship, for 1994-95, and an Innovation in Education Award, given by the University of Pittsburgh, for 2001-02. Weintraub is also the author of Power Plays: Wayang Golek Puppet Theater of West Java, which was published in 2004.

In Power Plays, Weintraub analyzes the importance of the theatrical genre of the puppet theater, a vitally important cultural performance for the Sundanese living in Western Java, or Indonesia. The puppet theater referred to here and in Weintraub's book bears no resemblance to the puppet theaters that young children often play with. Rather, it is an important cultural diversion, and uses large puppet figures, either flat and made of leather if the performance is based in Java, or made of wood in three dimensions if the performance is in Sunda. Adults use these puppets as the basis for a performance that generally conveys an epic tale, taken from the pages of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. The performances are not simply acted out and narrated, but combine poetry and music and singing as well, putting them on a grand scale. Weintraub is careful to include background information on this art form, providing sufficient history so that someone completely new to viewing the performances would have some frame of reference, while avoiding going so far into detail as to bore any other, more familiar viewers. Weintraub then moves on to the political situation surrounding these puppet performances, analyzing the situation of the Suharto regime, during their time in power, to somehow use the puppet performances to their advantage by controlling the underlying messages. He also discusses ways in which technological changes since the early 1970s have impacted the cultural integrity of the puppet performances. Judith Becker, writing for Notes, commented that "one of the startling parts of Weintraub's book is his description of the musical innovation called ‘multilaras’ gamelan ensembles. Several different tuning systems are used in Sunda, and generally, this means that only one of them is played on any given gamelan. But among the superstar dalangs, some have created gamelan instruments with many more keys that are thus able to play pieces in more than one tuning." In a review for Pacific Affairs, Michael H. Bodden remarked: "This is a welcome book for those interested in Indonesian theatre and performance, studies of Indonesian popular culture, and the politics of culture."