Dieter Mack was born in 1954 in Speyer. He studied composition, piano and music theory. After various lectureships he became professor for music theory in Freiburg in 1986. From 2003 until 2021 when he retired he was professor for composition at the MHS Lübeck. Various study and research trips led him mainly to Indonesia where he studied Balinese gamelan music. In 1982 he founded his own gamelan ensemble. Since 1988 he has also worked in Indonesia’s music education system as a guest lecturer, and from 1992 to 1995 as a long term DAAD-guest lecturer at UPI Bandung. From 1996 to 2007 he was a consultant in an ethnomusicological-educational research project at UPI Bandung that was sponsored by the Ford Foundation. From 2007 to 2019 he was head of the DAAD music selection committee and from 2009 to 2015 head of Goethe Institute’s music advisory board. He continues to give regular masterclasses in composition mostly in East and Southeast Asia but also Canada and New Zealand. From 2008 to 2011 and 2015 to 2019 he was vice-president of the University of Music Lübeck. He composes mostly chamber music with a focus on percussion and wind instruments. As an author he writes mainly about intercultural issues. See www.dieter-mack.de for further information.