Music by Peni Candra Rini with Andy McGraw / Director Garin Nugroho
Film with Live Score / Music
Setio, a young poor man, falls in love with Asih, a beautiful aristocrat, but the woman’s family rejects his marriage proposal. Despairing, he makes a deal with the devil so he can spend the rest of his life with the woman he loves, but his pact comes at a price.
Nugroho’s Setan Jawa is a silent film with live score created by celebrated Indonesian composer and singer, Peni Candra Rini with Andy McGraw. The film explores Indonesia’s pre-orthodox Islamic stories of the seven deals man makes with the devil in order to gain wealth, and the live score dramatically underpins the mysticism and sensuality of Nugroho’s tale of love and sacrifice.
Setan Jawa evokes Javanese mythology through a lens of contemporary horror, inspired by the perennial silent film classic, Murnau’s Nosferatu. Peni Candra Runi is an extraordinary singer, master of several traditional forms, and regarded as one of Indonesia’s most daring young composers. Nugroho is a pioneer of Indonesian cinema represented in Cannes, Berlin, Venice, and beyond.
The Dark: PS21’s fearless winter festival of live performance radiating across Columbia County
The Dark is a new annual festival from PS21 : Center for Contemporary Performance that celebrates and elevates the depths of winter. Taking place February 16–22, 2026, the festival will unfold at PS21 and across Columbia County—in theatres, restaurants, libraries, saunas, and outdoor public spaces. Featuring more than 60 international artists and over 80 performances, The Dark offers a packed week of world-class contemporary performance, installation, music, dance, and theatre—all exploring winter as a time of community and solitude, fire and ice, darkness and light. A major new attraction for the region, the festival positions Columbia County as a year-round cultural destination—not just a summer one.
It is a light in the dark—and The Dark is the light.
Secure your Festival Pass to The Dark now which includes tickets to every performance along with a complimentary sauna and ice skating session!
Commissioned by Arts Centre Melbourne, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Singapore Esplanade for Asia TOPA. (Turning World)
With Andy McGraw, Professor of Music, Ethnomusicologist, Multi-instrumentalist, Arranger, and Chair of the Department of Music, University of Richmond
Peni Candra Rini, PhD (b. 1983) is a renowned Javanese singer, composer, and faculty member at the Indonesian Institute of the Arts. The Kronos Quartet has described her as “one of the world’s greatest singers.” She is a master of several traditional forms 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 thirty-minute work concerns the impacts of climate change on the Indonesian archipelago, and has been performed by Kronos on major stages throughout the US and Europe. In 2024 she will publish two albums on the New Amsterdam label, in collaboration with Shahzad Ismaily, Andy McGraw, and members of Deerhoof, featuring her experimental compositions for Javanese and Western ensembles.
Garin Nugroho is a pioneer of major national film festivals and a key figure in bringing Indonesian cinema to the international stage, with his films featured at renowned festivals such as Cannes, Berlin, Venice, and Busan. His creative work extends beyond film into performing and visual arts, with stage productions and installations showcased across Australia and Europe.
In recognition of his contributions to film, art, and culture, he has received numerous prestigious awards, including France’s highest cultural award Officier des Arts et des Lettres, Italy’s Stella d’Italia Cavaliere, the Indonesian Presidential Cultural Award, the Singapore Film Festival Honorary Award, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Bangkok International Film Festival, and a cultural award from Sultan Hamengku Buwono X.
Beyond the arts, Garin is actively engaged in civic and educational initiatives. He has worked with NGOs on civic education and post-tsunami empowerment programs in Aceh, and has written nine books on film, culture, and democracy. He is the founder and board member of several major film festivals, including JAFF, Madani, and Bali Makarya, and served as Head of the Jury for the Indonesian Film Festival (FFI) from 2021 to 2023. He has also served as a jury member at prestigious festivals such as Venice, Tokyo, and Busan. Currently, he teaches at the Master’s and Doctoral programs at ISI Yogyakarta, ISI Solo, and other universities.
(Dr.) Andy McGraw is Associate Professor and Chair of Music at the University of Richmond in Virginia. He is the author of Radical Traditions: Reimagining Culture in Balinese Experimental Music (Oxford 2013) and Music as Ethics (Oxford 2023). He has co-edited two volumes on Indonesian music: Performing Indonesia, with Sumarsam
(Smithsonian 2014) and Sounding Out the State of Indonesian Music, with Chris Miller
(Cornell 2022). He has published numerous articles on music and ethics as well as analytical pieces on rhythm in Balinese, Javanese, and Cuban musics. In Richmond he facilitates community gamelan and stringband ensembles and runs a music program in the Virginia prison system. His research, teaching, and creative work has been supported by multiple Fulbright grants, the National Endowment for the Humanities, Arts International, the Smithsonian, and the Indonesian Department of Culture, among other organizations. Since 1996 he has spent years studying, teaching, and performing in Indonesia, collaborating with leading composers and performers in Bali and Java. His discography includes recordings on Sargasso, Porter, Tzadik, Out of Your Head, and New Amsterdam record labels.
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While this performance does not have reserved seating, we are happy to accommodate any specific accessibility needs.
Please reach out to Adriana at boxoffice@ps21chatham.org, and she will coordinate with our front-of-house team to ensure your experience is comfortable and enjoyable.
The Crandell Theatre offers complimentary devices to assist hearing-impaired patrons, including:
Assisted Listening: Hear amplified audio from the house speakers via headset.
Our staff are happy to help you select and set up a device to ensure a more enjoyable movie-going experience.
