Editing Lou Harrison (section)

===Teaching and time abroad===
Harrison taught music at various colleges and universities, including [[Mills College]] from 1936 to 1939 and again from 1980 to 1985, [[San Jose State University]], [[Cabrillo College]], [[Reed College]], and [[Black Mountain College]]. In 1953 he moved back to California, settling in [[Aptos, California|Aptos]] near Santa Cruz, where he lived the rest of his life. He and Colvig purchased land in [[Joshua Tree, California]], where they designed and built the "Harrison House Retreat", a [[Straw-bale construction|straw bale house]]. He continued working on his experimental musical instruments.[[File:Penabuh gamelan.jpg|thumb|upright 1.3|Harrison developed a deep interest in the traditional [[gamelan]] ensembles of southern Indonesia (pictured)]]

Although much influenced by Asian music, Harrison did not visit the continent until a 1961 trip to Japan and Korea, and a 1962 trip to Taiwan (where he studied with the [[Guzheng|zheng]] master [[Liang Tsai-Ping]]).{{sfnp|Miller|Lieberman|1998|p=141}} He and his partner William Colvig later constructed a tuned percussion ensemble, using resonated aluminium keys and tubes, as well as oxygen tanks and other found percussion instruments. They called this "an American gamelan", to distinguish it from those in Indonesia. They also constructed gamelan-type instruments tuned to just pentatonic scales from unusual materials such as tin cans and aluminium furniture tubing. He wrote "La Koro Sutro" (in Esperanto)<ref name=":0">[http://www.diversitycenter.org/lou/ Lou Harrison Centennial Birthday Celebration], 1917–2017, part 2 of 5.</ref> for these instruments and chorus, as well as Suite for Violin and American Gamelan. In addition, Harrison played and composed for the Chinese [[guzheng]] zither, and presented (with Colvig, his student Richard Dee, and the singer Lily Chin) over 300 concerts of traditional Chinese music in the 1960s and early 1970s.<ref>Collins, Phil (2002). [http://www.metroactive.com/papers/cruz/08.09.00/harrison-0032.html "A Sound Life"] ''[[Metro Santa Cruz]]''. Retrieved June 26, 2022.</ref> The poet and translator [[Kenneth Rexroth]] often read translations of classical Chinese poems in these concerts.<ref>https://digital.lib.buffalo.edu/items/show/54582</ref>

He was a composer-in-residence at [[San Jose State University]] in [[San Jose, California]], during the 1960s. The university honored him with an all-Harrison concert in Morris Daley Auditorium in 1969, featuring dancers, singers, and musicians. The highlight of the concert was the world premiere of Harrison's depiction of the story of [[Orpheus]], which used soloists, the San Jose State University a cappella choir, as well as a unique group of percussionists.