January to June 2026
Percussive Arts Society - Indonesia Chapter Donation to Rhythm! Discovery Center
Percussive Arts Society Indonesia Chapter (PAS-IC) is an extension of the Percussive Arts Society (PAS), headquartered in Indianapolis. Its mission is to unite all elements within the percussion arts ecosystem in Indonesia, including artists, educational institutions, instrument makers, related industries, and the market, into a collaborative and sustainable network. AICEF's grant supported a July 2026 trip to the US of leading Indonesian tympani player Djati Wibowo (Bandung Philharmonic) to attend the International Tympani Intensive in Houston and donate a traditional Indonesian instrument, the Kendang Sunda, to be featured as part of the collection at the Rhythm! Discovery Center in Indianapolis. This museum serves as a comprehensive showcase of percussion instruments from both Western and Eastern traditions. The inclusion of the Kendang Sunda in this collection not only represents Indonesia’s rich cultural heritage, but also serves as an educational resource for local and international audiences. Visitors have the opportunity to learn about the instrument’s historical background, explore its performance practice, and understand how its unique characteristics can influence and shape musical works across different contexts.
Kendang Sunda
Center For World Music
With support from the American Indonesian Cultural & Educational Foundation (AICEF), the Center for World Music (CWM) helped bring Woro Mustiko Siwi—an accomplished dalang, singer, and dancer from Surakarta, Indonesia—to Southern California for a five-performance regional tour with Gamelan Kasuryan, a community gamelan formed in 2025, under the direction of Joko Sutrisno. Through this tour, audiences experienced the rare opportunity to experience Javanese wayang kulit performed live, in English, and in a condensed format designed to make this important Indonesian tradition accessible to American audiences while preserving its artistic integrity and cultural significance. The tour opened with a presentation by the Center for World Music at Mingei International Museum on May 15, 2026. The performance sold out more than one month in advance—setting a new attendance record for the Center for World Music's Passport Concert Series. More than 120 in-person and 60 remote live-stream attendees, including the Consul General and representatives from the Indonesian Consulate in Los Angeles, enjoyed an evening of live gamelan music, storytelling, shadow puppetry, and audience engagement. The program concluded with a lively question-and-answer session that fostered meaningful cultural exchange between artists and audience members. On May 22, 2026, Woro Mustiko Siwi joined students from Canyon Crest Academy's Javanese gamelan ensemble for their end-of-year performance.The tour continued on May 26, 2026, with a performance at the UC Riverside Culver Center for the Arts. On May 30, 2026, the artists presented an abbreviated 35-minute version of Becoming Bimo as part of a UCLA world music concert. The tour's final performance was on May 31, at the Indonesian Consulate General (LA).
Video: Becoming Bimo: Wayang Kulit Shadow Puppetry (multi angle) - YouTube
With support from the American Indonesian Cultural & Educational Foundation (AICEF), the Center for World Music (CWM) helped bring Woro Mustiko Siwi—an accomplished dalang, singer, and dancer from Surakarta, Indonesia—to Southern California for a five-performance regional tour with Gamelan Kasuryan, a community gamelan formed in 2025, under the direction of Joko Sutrisno. Through this tour, audiences experienced the rare opportunity to experience Javanese wayang kulit performed live, in English, and in a condensed format designed to make this important Indonesian tradition accessible to American audiences while preserving its artistic integrity and cultural significance. The tour opened with a presentation by the Center for World Music at Mingei International Museum on May 15, 2026. The performance sold out more than one month in advance—setting a new attendance record for the Center for World Music's Passport Concert Series. More than 120 in-person and 60 remote live-stream attendees, including the Consul General and representatives from the Indonesian Consulate in Los Angeles, enjoyed an evening of live gamelan music, storytelling, shadow puppetry, and audience engagement. The program concluded with a lively question-and-answer session that fostered meaningful cultural exchange between artists and audience members. On May 22, 2026, Woro Mustiko Siwi joined students from Canyon Crest Academy's Javanese gamelan ensemble for their end-of-year performance.The tour continued on May 26, 2026, with a performance at the UC Riverside Culver Center for the Arts. On May 30, 2026, the artists presented an abbreviated 35-minute version of Becoming Bimo as part of a UCLA world music concert. The tour's final performance was on May 31, at the Indonesian Consulate General (LA).
Video: Becoming Bimo: Wayang Kulit Shadow Puppetry (multi angle) - YouTube
Gamelan Dharma Swara
AICEF supported NY's leading community-based Balinese gamelan Dharma Swara's collaborative project with Foreshadow Puppetry to create an original shadow play set to “Synesthesia”, a contemporary work for gamelan composed for the group by Jerome Fund awardee Joel Mellin in 2012. Foreshadow Puppetry is a Brooklyn-based emerging “theatremaker” duo who are a recipient of a 2024 Workshop Grant from The JimHenson Foundation. With backgrounds in puppetry, acting, playwriting, illustration, and education, Foreshadow joined GDS in an interpretation of the traditional Balinese artform of shadow puppet storytelling. For this contemporary presentation, the play adapted the Hindu myth of Kala Rahu, a key figure in the Mahabharata whose cosmic import has inspired Dharma Swara’s insignia. Debuted at Stone Theater in Brooklyn, NY October 24, 2025 before an audience of 200. The work will also be performed in December 2026.
Link To Program
Upcoming Projects: July-December 2026
Archipelago Vocal Project, Inc.
Based in Los Angeles, AVP is Archipelago Vocal Project (AVP) is a Los Angeles–based nonprofit community choir dedicated to uplifting Southeast Asian voices through choral music, with a strong emphasis on Indonesian cultural storytelling. Founded in 2024, AVP creates inclusive, non-auditioned spaces where singers of all backgrounds—many from the Southeast Asian diaspora—can engage deeply with music rooted in their heritage. AICEF’s grant will support a December 5, 2026 performance of “ Laut: Shared Journeys, Shared Sea”. “Laut,” the Indonesian word for “sea,” serves as the central metaphor for this program. As an archipelagic nation, Indonesia’s identity is deeply shaped by the sea—connecting islands, cultures, histories, and people across vast distances. This program explores the idea of shared journeys across waters, reflecting migration, diaspora, trade, and cultural exchange between Southeast Asia and the United States. The concert will feature Indonesian choral works and musical traditions alongside complementary Southeast Asian and global repertoire that reflect themes of movement, belonging, and interconnectedness. Indonesian language, musical textures, and storytelling traditions will be prominently highlighted throughout the program, offering audiences an immersive and culturally grounded experience.
East Hawai'i Cultural Center
The East Hawai'i Cultural Center was founded in 1967 by a group of East Hawai'i visual and performing artists who banded together to share resources and ideas. Its mission is to be an inclusive platform for culture and fine art, giving voice to local communities and providing a forum for inquiry into their experiences and histories. AICEF’s grant enables EHCC’s resident gamelan, “Molten Blossom”, to become mobile and answer the many requests the group receives from throughout Hawai'i Island. It will now offer Javanese gamelan demonstrations and workshops to groups who lack the economic, physical, or sociological resources to visit EHCC.
FRIENDS OF THE GAMELAN INC.
Friends of the Gamelan (FROG) is a Chicago-based nonprofit organization dedicated to the performance, preservation, and teaching of traditional Indonesian music and dance. Founded in 1980, FROG has served for more than four decades as a leading cultural resource in the Midwest, introducing diverse audiences to Indonesian artistic traditions through performances, workshops, and community engagement programs. FROG began as a Javanese gamelan ensemble formed by musicians inspired by historic gamelan instruments originally displayed at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Over time, the organization expanded to include both Javanese and Balinese ensembles, and in 2023 formally merged the Chicago Balinese Gamelan into the organization. AICEF’s grant will enable FROG to host the first full-scale wayang in Chicago in over 20 years.
Archipelago Vocal Project, Inc.
Based in Los Angeles, AVP is Archipelago Vocal Project (AVP) is a Los Angeles–based nonprofit community choir dedicated to uplifting Southeast Asian voices through choral music, with a strong emphasis on Indonesian cultural storytelling. Founded in 2024, AVP creates inclusive, non-auditioned spaces where singers of all backgrounds—many from the Southeast Asian diaspora—can engage deeply with music rooted in their heritage. AICEF’s grant will support a December 5, 2026 performance of “ Laut: Shared Journeys, Shared Sea”. “Laut,” the Indonesian word for “sea,” serves as the central metaphor for this program. As an archipelagic nation, Indonesia’s identity is deeply shaped by the sea—connecting islands, cultures, histories, and people across vast distances. This program explores the idea of shared journeys across waters, reflecting migration, diaspora, trade, and cultural exchange between Southeast Asia and the United States. The concert will feature Indonesian choral works and musical traditions alongside complementary Southeast Asian and global repertoire that reflect themes of movement, belonging, and interconnectedness. Indonesian language, musical textures, and storytelling traditions will be prominently highlighted throughout the program, offering audiences an immersive and culturally grounded experience.
East Hawai'i Cultural Center
The East Hawai'i Cultural Center was founded in 1967 by a group of East Hawai'i visual and performing artists who banded together to share resources and ideas. Its mission is to be an inclusive platform for culture and fine art, giving voice to local communities and providing a forum for inquiry into their experiences and histories. AICEF’s grant enables EHCC’s resident gamelan, “Molten Blossom”, to become mobile and answer the many requests the group receives from throughout Hawai'i Island. It will now offer Javanese gamelan demonstrations and workshops to groups who lack the economic, physical, or sociological resources to visit EHCC.
FRIENDS OF THE GAMELAN INC.
Friends of the Gamelan (FROG) is a Chicago-based nonprofit organization dedicated to the performance, preservation, and teaching of traditional Indonesian music and dance. Founded in 1980, FROG has served for more than four decades as a leading cultural resource in the Midwest, introducing diverse audiences to Indonesian artistic traditions through performances, workshops, and community engagement programs. FROG began as a Javanese gamelan ensemble formed by musicians inspired by historic gamelan instruments originally displayed at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Over time, the organization expanded to include both Javanese and Balinese ensembles, and in 2023 formally merged the Chicago Balinese Gamelan into the organization. AICEF’s grant will enable FROG to host the first full-scale wayang in Chicago in over 20 years.