CWM & ISI Surakarta Forge Partnership

A Partnership Rooted in Living Traditions

The Center for World Music and Institut Seni Indonesia (ISI) Surakarta (Indonesian Institute of the Arts Surakarta)—one of Indonesia’s most prestigious performing arts institutions—have formed a landmark alliance. This partnership is designed to advance the preservation of Indonesia’s living artistic traditions, training in those arts, and reciprocal cultural exchange.

About the Partnership

In collaboration with ISI Surakarta, CWM proposed and drew up a Memorandum of Understanding, now signed by both parties and effective through December 2032, that establishes a sustained alliance between two institutions that are united by a shared mission to ensure that Indonesian traditional performing arts—gamelan, wayang kulit, and dance—continue to inspire future generations.

ISI Surakarta is internationally recognized for its leadership in research on Central Javanese performing arts, as well as their preservation and transmission. The Center for World Music has cultivated deep engagement with these traditions through its World Music in the Schools program, which brings gamelan music and Indonesian dance into San Diego County classrooms, and through its Global Stage concert series, which presents master artists to public audiences across Southern California.

Together, we are creating a framework for reciprocal exchange that deepens artistic practice, expands educational opportunity, and builds lasting international relationships.

The Center for World Music wishes to express its deep gratitude to teaching and performing artist Joko Sutrisno and managing director Laurel Grinnell-Wilson for cultivating the relationships that led eventually to this alliance. We are also grateful to the Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia in Los Angeles, which also supports and recognizes this agreement. Thank you especially to the following individuals for helping to make this partnership possible.

Joint Working Group Members

ISI Surakarta

• Dr. Bondet Wrahatnala, S.Sos., M.Sn., Rektor of ISI Surakarta
• Dr. Drs. Zulkarnain Mistortoify, M.Hum., Vice Rector for Student Affairs, Cooperation and Public Relations
• Danis Sugiyanto, S.Sn., M.Hum., Chairman of the Karawitan (Gamelan) Department
• Dr. Aris Setiawan, S.Sn., M.Sn., Dean of the Faculty of Performing Arts
• Anggono Kusumo Wibowo S.sn., M.Sn., Vice Dean for Student Affairs and Cooperation, Faculty of the Performing Arts
• Aditya, Foreign Cooperation Unit

Center for World Music

• Monica Emery, Executive Director
• Laurel Grinnell-Wilson, Managing Director
• Eka Trisniati, Member of the Board
• Joko Sutrisno, CWM teaching and performing artist, Director of Gamelan

Consulate General of Republic of Indonesia in Los Angeles

• Bapak Purnomo Ahmad Chadra, Consul General Los Angeles
• Ibu Afina Burhanuddin, Consul for Information, Social & Cultural Affairs

A Six-Year Vision

The partnership is structured around a three-year rotating cycle, each year highlighting a distinct area of Indonesian artistic excellence:

2027: Indonesian Dance

ISI Surakarta dancers will be invited to perform in CWM’s Passport to the Global Stage concert series in June, with educational workshops through our World Music in the Schools program.

2028: Educational Exchange and Gamelan

CWM will partner with ISI Surakarta as an academic and cultural anchor for its Pathways Abroad program, creating a pathway to Indonesia, offering participants immersive study in gamelan, dance, and wayang kulit led by ISI faculty and artists. ISI gamelan musicians will also be invited to perform in CWM’s 2028 Passport Concert series.

2029: Wayang Kulit

An ISI Surakarta’s master puppeteer (dalang) will be invited to perform and lead educational workshops and lecture-demonstrations in San Diego schools and on public stages.

2030–2032

Subject to mutual agreement, the three-year cycle renews—deepening relationships, expanding reach, and continuing the work of bringing Indonesia’s living artistic traditions to new audiences.

Why This Alliance Matters

Traditional performing arts are not relics. They are living, breathing expressions of cultural identity—carried by artists, transmitted through teaching, and renewed through performance. This partnership invests in that continuity.

For donors and funders, supporting this collaboration means:

• Connecting San Diego students with authentic artistic traditions from around the world
• Providing professional opportunities for master artists from Indonesia and the United States
• Building the kind of sustained international cultural relationships that single events cannot achieve
• Expanding public access to performing arts traditions that might otherwise remain out of reach

Our Shared Commitment

The Center for World Music and ISI Surakarta are committed to approaching this partnership with mutual respect, artistic integrity, and a long-term vision. We are actively seeking grant funding and philanthropic support to bring each phase of this collaboration to life.

If you are interested in supporting this work, we invite you to be part of something enduring.