Peni Candra Rini with wayang projections. Photo by Matt Mehlan.
Hill Center is absolutely thrilled to welcome back Peni Candra Rini. Her 2023 concert remains one of the most electric, sublime, and utterly singular we have ever presented.
Described by the Kronos Quartet as “one of the world’s greatest singers,” the Indonesian composer Peni Candra Rini combines experimental music, dance, and shadow theatre to reimagine the Javanese legends she grew up with. Peni is joined by musicians Shahzad Ismaily and Andy McGraw, along with members of Rumput and Gamelan Raga Kusuma.
Peni Candra Rini is a renowned Javanese singer, composer, and faculty member at the Indonesian Institute of the Arts. The Kronos Quartet has described her as “one of the world’s greatest singers.” She is a master of several traditional forms and is regarded as one of Indonesia’s most daring young composers, one of only a handful of female composers in the majority Muslim nation. She has performed extensively internationally, including several world tours as the featured singer for Robert Wilson’s I La Galigo. She is a recipient of grants from the Asian Cultural Council, is a two-time grantee of the US State Department’s One Beat and Fulbright programs, and in 2022 was named an Aga Khan Foundation laureate of the arts. In 2023 she became the first woman to be commissioned to compose a work for the Mangkunegaran court of Central Java and in 2024 was bestowed the court name Raden Nganten Tumenggung, the highest honor offered by the Raja. In 2024 she completed a suite for string quartet commissioned by the Kronos Quartet and Carnegie Hall. Entitled Segara Gunung, the thirty-minute work concerns the impacts of climate change on the Indonesian archipelago and has been performed by Kronos on major stages throughout the US and Europe. In 2024 she published two albums on the New Amsterdam label, in collaboration with Shahzad Ismaily, Andy McGraw, and members of Deerhoof, featuring her experimental compositions for Javanese and Western ensembles. In 2024 her trio with Shahzad Ismaily and Andy McGraw (and friends) performed at the Edinburgh International Festival, Roulette, and other US venues and will perform in 2025 at the Big Ears Festival and the Monheim Triennale, among other venues.
Wayang kulit (shadow theater) performed by I Gusti Putu Sudarta, accompanied by live kroncong and gamelan music performed by Rumput and members of Gamelan Raga Kusuma.
Sudarta will perform Sutasoma. In this shadow play, the only child of a royal family rejects the throne and escapes to the forest for a life of Buddhist contemplation. But first he must conquer various ogres in the forest.
Wayang kulit are flat leather puppets made from carved and painted rawhide. The Javanese and Balinese shadow play tradition is at least 1000 years old. It is both a sacred genre and a mass entertainment for local communities. Besides philosophical and religious instruction, performances include a healthy dose of bawdy humor and manic fight scenes.
The performance lasts approximately 75 minutes. Afterwards, you can meet Sudarta and learn about his puppets.
I Gusti Putu Sudarta is Faculty and Director of the Theatre Program at the Indonesian Institute of the Arts in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia. Sudarta was born into a family of artists in the village of Bedulu, Bali, in 1968. From a young age, he studied traditional Balinese gamelan music with teachers in his village. He is a prolific musician, dancer, composer, and shadow master, actively performing at Balinese temple ceremonies, in academic contexts, at national cultural festivals, and on international stages. He has taught frequently as a visiting artist in American and Taiwanese universities.
The 8 songs on Wulansih exert a deep sense of spiritual calm and act as, in Rini’s words, “a reminder that you are still human, listening to expressions of other humans.” Her music is deeply inspired by the poetry of Rumi and Hafez, Wayang Kulit (Indonesian shadow play), and Serat, the tradition of Sufi thought in Central Javanese court poetry. Rini says that Wulansih aims to “express my inner feelings, my soul, to provide inspiration to younger Indonesian composers, and to introduce Indonesian new compositions to new global audiences.”
Rumput is featured on her original composition Warasih, recorded at Montrose Recording in Richmond. Andy features on every track as performer, co-arranger, and co-producer. A minimalist treatment of the traditional keroncong tune Jenang Gula features selo and guitar from Andy and John plus beautiful subtle additions from Shahzad Ismaily on guitar and Curt Sydnor on synthesizer. Other tracks feature experimental compositions and group improvisations featuring Andy, Shahzad and a rotating crew of stellar guest musicians at Figure 8 Recording in Brooklyn.
Rumput is honored to support keroncong royalty Endah Laras and Danis Sugiyanto for a concert of keroncong classics, plus workshops at the Freer Gallery of Art at the Smithsonian Institution.
Workshops:
Sunday October 6, 1pm and 4pm, Freer Gallery 5
Lecture/demonstration on the history and fundamentals of keroncong. Bring a stringed instrument to play along! http://events.si.edu/133840708
Endah Laras is a renowned keroncong performer with an equally robust background in traditional Javanese arts. Her father was a dalang (shadow puppeteer), her mother a dancer, and they taught her karawitan, sindhenan, and Javanese dance. This foundation in traditional Javanese arts laid the groundwork for her studies and collaborations in contemporary and experimental music. Laras has performed with acclaimed dalang Ki Enthus Susmono in the Netherlands, France, Belgium and Korea. She collaborated with Japanese choreographer Akiko Kitamura on “To Belong”, which appeared in Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong and Indonesia. She routinely gives dance and music workshops at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and UWCSEA, an international school in Singapore. Her mellifluous and versatile voice lends itself well to keroncong, as heard on recordings with keroncong maestros Andjar Any and Mus Mulyadi.
Danis Sugiyanto is a professor of karawitan at Institut Seni Indonesia Solo (Indonesian Arts University of Solo) and a master keroncong musician. Born in Surakarta, Sugiyanto has appeared in musical and theatrical productions throughout the world. In 1997, he performed in a production of “King Lear” in Japan under the direction of Ong Ken Seng and Rahayu Supanggah. He also performed karawitan in a production of “I Lagaligo” by acclaimed director Robert Wilson and Rahayu Supanggah in New York (2005), Jakarta (2006), Melbourne (2006), Milan, and Taipei (2008). He is an accomplished composer who contributed music for a production with “Wayang Keroncong Gendut” at the Malay Festival of Singapore, 2016. With the support of a Fulbright fellowship, Danis Sugiyanto taught at the University of Richmond and the College of William & Mary as a scholar-in-residence during the Spring semester of 2018.
Rumput is honored to support keroncong royalty Endah Laras and Danis Sugiyanto for a concert of keroncong classics on the CarMax Family Stage at The Richmond Folk Festival, sponsored by JAMinc.
Endah Laras is a renowned keroncong performer with an equally robust background in traditional Javanese arts. Her father was a dalang (shadow puppeteer), her mother a dancer, and they taught her karawitan, sindhenan, and Javanese dance. This foundation in traditional Javanese arts laid the groundwork for her studies and collaborations in contemporary and experimental music. Laras has performed with acclaimed dalang Ki Enthus Susmono in the Netherlands, France, Belgium and Korea. She collaborated with Japanese choreographer Akiko Kitamura on “To Belong”, which appeared in Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong and Indonesia. She routinely gives dance and music workshops at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and UWCSEA, an international school in Singapore. Her mellifluous and versatile voice lends itself well to keroncong, as heard on recordings with keroncong maestros Andjar Any and Mus Mulyadi.
Danis Sugiyanto is a professor of karawitan at Institut Seni Indonesia Solo (Indonesian Arts University of Solo) and a master keroncong musician. Born in Surakarta, Sugiyanto has appeared in musical and theatrical productions throughout the world. In 1997, he performed in a production of “King Lear” in Japan under the direction of Ong Ken Seng and Rahayu Supanggah. He also performed karawitan in a production of “I Lagaligo” by acclaimed director Robert Wilson and Rahayu Supanggah in New York (2005), Jakarta (2006), Melbourne (2006), Milan, and Taipei (2008). He is an accomplished composer and contributed music for a production with Wayang Keroncong Gendut at the Malay Festival of Singapore, 2016. With the support of a Fulbright fellowship, Sugiyanto taught at the University of Richmond and the College of William & Mary as a scholar-in-residence during the Spring semester of 2018.
Rumput is honored to support keroncong royalty Endah Laras and Danis Sugiyanto for a concert of keroncong classics at Perkinson Recital Hall, University of Richmond.
Endah Laras is a renowned keroncong performer with an equally robust background in traditional Javanese arts. Her father was a dalang (shadow puppeteer), her mother a dancer, and they taught her karawitan, sindhenan, and Javanese dance. This foundation in traditional Javanese arts laid the groundwork for her studies and collaborations in contemporary and experimental music. Laras has performed with acclaimed dalang Ki Enthus Susmono in the Netherlands, France, Belgium and Korea. She collaborated with Japanese choreographer Akiko Kitamura on “To Belong”, which appeared in Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong and Indonesia. She routinely gives dance and music workshops at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and UWCSEA, an international school in Singapore. Her mellifluous and versatile voice lends itself well to keroncong, as heard on recordings with keroncong maestros Andjar Any and Mus Mulyadi.
Danis Sugiyanto is a professor of karawitan at Institut Seni Indonesia Solo (Indonesian Arts University of Solo) and a master keroncong musician. Born in Surakarta, Sugiyanto has appeared in musical and theatrical productions throughout the world. In 1997, he performed in a production of “King Lear” in Japan under the direction of Ong Ken Seng and Rahayu Supanggah. He also performed karawitan in a production of “I Lagaligo” by acclaimed director Robert Wilson and Rahayu Supanggah in New York (2005), Jakarta (2006), Melbourne (2006), Milan, and Taipei (2008). He is an accomplished composer and contributed music for a production with Wayang Keroncong Gendut at the Malay Festival of Singapore, 2016. With the support of a Fulbright fellowship, Sugiyanto taught at the University of Richmond and the College of William & Mary as a scholar-in-residence during the Spring semester of 2018.
Rumput will accompany Indonesian guest artist, Ubiet Raesuki, for an evening of traditional kroncong. Indonesian Food Trucks at 7:00. Tickets are free but need to be reserved in advance https://kroncongmusic.eventbrite.com.
This concert will be part of “Performing Indonesia”, an annual event presented by the Smithsonian Institute. Members of Gamelan Raga Kusuma will join New York’s Momenta String Quartet and Ubiet Raesuki for an evening of contemporary music by Indonesian composers: featuring I Wayan Yudane’s and Jack Body’s setting of Colin McPhee’s memoir “House in Bali” and Tony Prabowo’s “Pastoral.” Rumput will accompany Ubiet Raseuki for some traditional kroncong pieces. Tickets to this concert go on sale September 6, through gwutickets.com
Kroncong by Rumput, plus music composed and improvised by Andrew Timar, CAGE, and Szkieve.
The Cornell Modern Indonesia Project brings together some forty participants from the US, Canada, and Indonesia, to sound out the state of Indonesian music, both as a subject of scholarly inquiry, and as an artistic practice pursued within and beyond Indonesia. Those who work primarily as scholars of Indonesian music, mostly within the field of ethnomusicology, will be joined by others from in, around, and outside academia who work primarily as practitioners: as performers, composers, ensemble directors, and promoters. The mix of paper presentations, roundtables, and performances will build on the overlap and connections between these constituencies, whose priorities and attentions may differ but who fundamentally share a common cause.
Rumput will accompany Indonesian guest artist, Ubiet Raesuki, for an evening of traditional kroncong. Indonesian Food Trucks at 7:00. Tickets are free but need to be reserved in advance 
This concert will be part of “Performing Indonesia”, an annual event presented by the Smithsonian Institute. Members of Gamelan Raga Kusuma will join New York’s 