Peni Candra Rini is an Indonesian composer, improviser, vocalist, and educator. She was born into a family of traditional artists and musicians in East Java and studied gamelan music and performance practice (karawitan) at the Institut Seni Indonesia Surakarta, Central Java, where she was mentored by renowned Javanese composer Rahayu Supanggah (1949-2020). She received her undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral degrees in art creation in music from the same institute, and currently teaches there in the Department of Karawitan.

She has created new musical works for the stage, dance, film, and theatre, combining her deep knowledge of Indonesian performing arts, in particular, the art of the pesindhen (female solo singer in a gamelan ensemble), with innovative musical projects around the world that represent a new vision for Javanese music. Her long list of credits as a composer, vocalist, and artistic collaborator transcends boundaries of musical genre, style, and language yet is united by what Peni Candra Rini has described as “soulful experience and willingness to give love through sound with sincerity from the bottom of her heart”.