Bali: The Son of the King, and I

The great Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, The King and I (1951-56), was based on the true story of Anna Leonowens, a British teacher who in the early 1860s served as governess to the children of King Mongkut of Siam. It is one of my favorite musicals, so imagine my surprise when, towards the end of our stay in Bali, I had the chance to become the saxophone teacher of the youngest son of the King of Ubud, Bali—and then heard the music of Ariel’s Way playing in a setting that is truly palatial!

Chokorda Ngura Sulyadnya (“Chok Wa” for short) is a warm and hospitable person with a remarkable passion for the arts. Though the royal family of Ubud no longer has political power, it continues to perform important ceremonial functions.

Furthermore, Chok Wa (who serves as head of security and emergency management in Ubud) has demonstrated, for years, an unwavering commitment to preserving Ubud’s cultural traditions (especially music, dance, and stone carving). He himself dismisses his own talents as an artist, but he clearly has a deep grounding in all the cultural traditions he seeks to promote. I watched him coach young gangsa players, heard him sing parts to other musicians, and saw the shapes that his imagination designed in the architecture of his residence.

Six years ago Chok Wa began work on a performing arts center that would showcase the culture of Ubud. He now sponsors five different gamelan groups (including a women’s group and several children’s group—whose names all include the royal initials “CW”). The facility he’s constructing can present Balinese music and dance in a sumptuous setting, featuring rice-terrace views, a lushly landscaped courtyard, and (eventually) accommodation for artists-in-residence in a peaceful but awe-inspiring setting.

Our Balinese teacher and driver, Ida Bagus Oka, found me a saxophone to play and took me out several times to hear (and to sit in with) local Ubud groups. I was impressed with the talent of the musicians I heard, and news of my presence in Ubud apparently came to Chok Wa’s attention. He asked Ida to bring me by so that I might help him learn more about the saxophone.

Walking into Chok Wa’s “palace in progress” was truly breathtaking. A sixty-foot high, intricately carved, truncated pyramid stands above the main gate, beautifully lit for evening. A half dozen waterfalls drop thirty feet or more into pools and streams that course through the golf-green courtyard. A young people’s gamelan, about 40 strong (under the supervision of four or five adult teachers), were working on a gong kebyar piece that was both challenging and powerful. Other gamelan students rehearsed in another pavilion. Sitting barefoot on the marble floor of the main pavilion, and sighting down a staircase trimmed with a pair of stone dragons, I tried to take it all in.

After the students had gone, Chok Wa, Ida and I (plus an attendant or two) admired the ALL WOOD saxophone that Chok Wa owned. I played it briefly to confirm that it did in fact play. He asked me then to play “my” horn, which I did. Then Chok Wa called for his own Conn-Selmer “Prelude” alto. He wanted me to teach him about it. He was a serious, focused student throughout a lesson that lasted nearly an hour. Chok Wa videotaped me, as I myself had done several days before when my suling (Balinese bamboo flute) teacher showed me about circular breathing and how to finger the pelog scale. Chok Wa was interested in the mouthpiece and reed, the embouchure, and the chromatic fingering. By the end of our hour together, he was able to play two octaves of a C major scale—much more progress than beginners typically make.

Before leaving, Chok Wa took me into his living quarters—which were truly fit for a king. Sitting together, we jammed on a steel drum and some similarly tuned propane canisters, and ended in a perfect moment of harmony. I saw his orchid collection and even the bathroom, which included mirrors trimmed with hand-painted flames. Ida could not believe that we had been permitted such an intimate glimpse into royal life. His children’s rooms were down a hallway that we did not enter.

The next night, our last in Bali, Chok Wa invited Jan, Elizabeth (our midwife friend who had come to visit) and me to dinner; however, we already had an invitation to eat with Ida and his family. But we did drop by the Prince’s place once more. Jan and Elizabeth had to see it for themselves, and I wanted to give Chok Wa a gift.

This time, he asked me to stand in the doorway to his apartment and play the wooden saxophone for the gamelan players who had stayed to hear. I did not have any time to warm up, and the horn was not as responsive as I would have liked, but still it was a beautiful moment. “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” seemed like a good choice. This certainly wasn’t Kansas!

I presented Chok Wa with my Ariel’s Way CD/DVD set, and he promptly put it on his sound system. Hearing the songs resounding in this superb courtyard setting on this magical island was almost as amazing as seeing the show for the first time. A dream I had dared to dream really had come true!

After presenting me with his gift—his own suling—Chok Wa escorted the three of us out, across the dazzling aquarium beneath the doorway to his compound. Did I see Elizabeth deliberately slip so that the handsome prince could support her? Generous and kind to the end, Chok Wa invited us to come back next time, when his palatial arts center was finished, and be his guests, for some “musical collaborations.” How can I refuse?