Indonesian Community
Artist: Peni Candra Rini, PhD. Visiting Fulbright Scholar. Faculty, Indonesian Institute of the Arts, Java.
Gusti Putu Sudarta, PhD. Faculty, Indonesian Institute of the Arts, Bali.
Title:
Wilujeng Slendro manyura mode, ladrang form. Wilujeng means “peace” and is often played at the beginning of Javanese ceremonies.
Puspawarna Slendro manyura mode, ketawang form. Traditional Javanese court music associated with the Mangkunegaran court of Central Java. The title means “flowers of many colors”
Sulendro Traditional Balinese gender wayang. This piece, in the Sukawati village style, is often performed as the overture to all night shadow theater performances. Featuring Gusti Sudarta.
Sri Karongron Slendro sanga mode, ladrang form. Traditional Javanese piece featuring a solo vocal introduction (bawa) by Peni Candra Rini
Artist Bio and Instrument Description
Peni Candra Rini, PhD (b. 1983) is a renowned Javanese singer, composer, and faculty member at the Indonesian Institute of the Arts. Raised in an artistic family in a small fishing village in East Java, Peni first began studying voice at the age of 5 under her father, a village shadow master. She is one of only a handful of female composers in the majority Muslim nation. The Kronos String Quartet is currently performing her latest chamber work, which they premiered this year at Carnegie Hall. She is a former recipient of grants from the Asian Cultural Council, is a two-time grantee of the US State Department’s One Beat Program and in 2022 was named an Aga Khan Foundation laureate of the arts. During the spring 2023 semester she will be teaching as a Visiting Fulbright Artist-Scholar at the University of Richmond.
Gamelan is the prevailing traditional music of Indonesia and is an intricate blend of sonorities, structured and patterned in unique rhythmic and melodic systems. It is built largely on tuned bronze percussion, and often accompanies highly formalized dance.
Gamelan Raga Kusuma is a community gamelan in residence at the University of Richmond. Founded in 2008 by Andy McGraw and Gusti Putu Sudarta, the ensemble has appeared in performances in Bali, the Smithsonian Institution, the Indonesian Embassy and in several venues along the East Coast. Membership is free and open to the public. Interested? See: www.ragakusuma.org, our Facebook and Instagram profiles, or email amcgraw@richmond.edu. Rehearsals are held Sunday evenings 6-8 in North Court 024.