Wesleyan University and Palace of Yogyakarta Sign Faculty Exchange Agreement

(l-r) H.E. Sultan Hamengkubuwono X, Gusti Kanjeng Condrokirono (Palace Official), Sumarsam (Professor of Music, Wesleyan University), Wayne Forrest (Chairman, AICEF)

On August 5th, 2022, the Royal Palace of Yogykarta signed a 5-year cooperation agreement with Wesleyan University covering faculty exchange.  Facilitated by an AICEF grant, the Palace will send a dance instructor, Vernonica Retnaningsih, to the US and Wesleyan will send a to Indonesia. Retnaningih joins faculty from Africa and India in Wesleyan's Dance Department and will complement the Music Department's half 60-year commitment to teaching Javanese gamelan.  Potemkina will work with the Royal Palace Orchestra, a symphonic ensemble established by Sultan Hamengkubuwono X in 2020.  Many of its musicians are graduates of the music conservatory of the Institute of the Arts based in Yogyakarta. 

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