Antonius Wahyudi Sutrisna or who is familiarly called Dedek is a composer born in Klaten in 1960. His grandfather’s family environment, where the majority were puppeteers, singers and niyaga, made Dedek familiar with gamelan since childhood. In fact, Dedek was able to quickly memorize karawitan music and was asked to play the drums to accompany the performances of Ki Suwandi, the famous puppeteer from Purworejo. In order to strengthen his skills, Dedek continued his education at the Indonesian Karawitan Middle School (SMKI) Surakarta. Then, he took the Karawitan Department at the Indonesian Academy of Karawitan Art (now the Indonesian Art Institute) Surakarta.
Dedek started his career as a composer when he was still studying at SMKI. Starting from his involvement as dance music drummer, he studied the composition of dance accompaniment until he created his first dance drama work “Retno Dumilah”. Prior to graduating from SMKI, he had worked on more than 10 pieces of dance music—in addition to works on the “Basulakardha” music concert and the piece “Mars Sebelas Maret State University (UNS) Surakarta”. While studying at ASKI, Dedek was diligent in observing, studying, and even involving himself in the creative process of composers Rahayu Supanggah, Blacius Subono, Aloysius Suwardi, and I Wayan Sadra.
As a composer who is close to the world of dance, Dedek’s works seem to “accompany” and tend to be illustrative. His skill in playing drums makes his work sound energetic and dynamic. Dedek is active in creating music for wayang, dance and theatre. He has composed music for dance works by a number of choreographers, such as Sardono W. Kusumo, Mugiyono Kasido, Deddy Luthan, and Eko Supriyanto. In the field of theater, he has also made musical accompaniment for the Gapit Theater and W. S. Rendra’s Theater Bengkel.
Dedek is often invited to various traditional and contemporary music performances, both at home and abroad. He has also collaborated with many cross-cultural musicians, one of which was when he joined the Asia Pacific Performing Exchange program in Los Angeles, USA (2006). Thanks to his expertise, he won many awards as the best composer and received an award from the Indonesian World Record Museum (MURI) for his role as Gamelan Music Arranger Coro Balen for 36 hours, 36 minutes and 36 seconds in the 36th Anniversary of TMII (2011). In 2000, he founded the Dedek Gamelan Orchestra (DGO) which is active in composing works for music concerts, as well as accompanying dance, theatre, films, soap operas and wayang.