Michael B. Bakan is Professor of Ethnomusicology and Head of World Music in the College of Music at Florida State University, where he also directs the Sekaa Gong Hanuman Agung Balinese gamelan and Omnimusica intercultural ensemble. He received his Ph.D. in ethnomusicology from the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1993. His first book, Music of Death and New Creation: Experiences in the World of Balinese Gamelan Beleganjur (Chicago, 1999), was selected as a Choice Outstanding Academic Title for the year 2000 and recognized as one of the two “most significant publications on Balinese music in almost half a century” in a 2002 review published in The Times (London). His textbook, World Music: Traditions and Transformations, now in its second edition with McGraw-Hill (2011), has been adopted at more than 150 universities and colleges throughout North America and internationally. Bakan’s many articles have appeared in journals including Ethnomusicology, Asian Music, College Music Symposium, and Ethnomusicology Forum, and as book chapters in several edited volumes. His current research on the ethnomusicology of autism is supported by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and other agencies. He serves as series editor for the Routledge Focus on World Music Series, formerly served as president of the Society for Ethnomusicology’s Southeast/Caribbean Chapter, and is an active composer and professional percussionist. He has been an invited lecturer or visiting professor at numerous institutions, including Harvard, Yale, and Indiana universities; the universities of Chicago, Texas, and Washington; and the Berklee College of Music.