Burhan Sukarma was born and raised in the village of
Karawang in Sunda. He played a variety of musical instruments during his
student years, and after moving to the regional capital, Bandung, in the
late 1960's, began to study the suling (end-blown bamboo
flute). Since that time he has become a master musician on the suling and
other instruments of the gamelan degung ensemble, and has appeared on the
majority of traditional and contemporary suling recordings produced in
West Java. From 1972-1986 he was famous as principal musician at Radio
Repulik Indonesia (RRI) in Bandung. He has toured France, the Netherlands,
Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Canada, and the United
States. He currently records for MTR and Jugala recording companies in
Indonesia. In the United States he has taught at the University of
Washington, San Jose State University, UC Santa Cruz, and UC Berkeley,
while continuously directing Pusaka Sunda.(Return to Pusaka Sunda's home page.)