In June 2006, eleven musicians from Vancouver joined the twenty-seven members of the gamelan Cudamani in the small village of Pengekosan, center Bali, and prepared for a performance of a new work by Canadian Michael Tenzer, composer and ethno-musicologist. For a month, they had to adjust to a totally new physical and cultural environment, meet certain social and protocol obligations, and perform music in a way that had never been attempted. 'Bali by Heart' explores much more than music. It is also a behind-the-scenes documentary with stories of friendship formed, hardship surmounted, and a moving testimony of how Balinese have understood that their culture is their most precious survival tool.
