Kronos Quartet and Peni Candra Rini

Peni Candra Rini, PhD (b. 1983) is a renowned Javanese singer, educator, and composer fusing Javanese sufi poetry with contemporary composition for Indonesian and Western instruments.

The Kronos Quartet has described her as “one of the world’s greatest singers.” She is a master of several traditional forms (primarily gamelan) 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 hourlong work concerns the impacts of climate change on the Indonesian archipelago is currently being performed by Kronos on major stages throughout the US and Europe. She has published albums and Eps on the New Amsterdam and Out of Your Head labels, in collaboration with Shahzad Ismaily, Andy McGraw, and members of Deerhoof, featuring her improvisations, and experimental compositions for Javanese and Western
ensembles.

In October 2026 Kronos will release an album of her string quartets on the Phenotypic label, some of which they have performed on NPR’s Tiny Desk series. She has received composition commissions from Carnegie Hall, the Asia Society, the Gaudeamus Foundation, and National Geographic, among other organizations. Most recently, her trio with Ismaily and McGraw has performed at the Edinburgh International Festival, Roulette, Big Ears, the Adelaide Festival, the Gaudeamus Festival, the Monheim Triennale, as well as numerous venues in the US and Europe.