– Nusantara Arts is thrilled to announce the return of its beloved annual event,
Bali Comes to Buffalo – Music & Dance, on Saturday, December 13, 2025, at 7:00 PM. This
year marks the third edition of the performance at Nusantara Arts’ Indonesian Culture Center in
the Elmwood Village, bringing together community, tradition, and artistic innovation in a night of
Balinese expression.
Why This Event Matters: Nusantara Arts has rapidly become the cultural hub for Indonesian
arts in Western New York, preserving and sharing the musical and dance traditions of Bali and
Java. Through performances like Bali Comes to Buffalo, the organization deepens its roots in
the local community and offers audiences an immersive, inspiring experience of Indonesian
heritage. This performance not only honors centuries-old traditions, but also features new
compositions created especially for Buffalo, weaving together global and local voices.
2025 program highlights:
Sekar Gendot: An electrifying 100 year old composition in the “pelegongang” repertoire by one
of Bali’s most enduring and pivotal composers “I Wayan Lotring” – Sekar Gendot is the first piece
Nusantara Arts has performed with our dual gendér rambat instruments and dual drums.
Sisya Jegeg: A new dance composition by Gusti Komin written especially for Buffalo. Komin
wanted to write an exciting dance song that takes advantage of Nusantara Arts unique 7-tone
semar pegulingan gamelan. Sekar Jegeg modulates through four different scalet: patemon,
selisir, tembung, and angeter agung to create an eye opening variety of sounds that highlight
the breadth of 7-tone possibilities. Nusantara Arts own Riesa Avanti has worked on a new
choreography to accompany this composition.
Kecak: Bali is filled with an incredible variety of music forms, some of which don’t even use
instruments! Enter kecak – the hypnotic rhythmic “monkey chant” and dance of Bali. Introduced
to many outside Ball in the film Baraka, tourists to Bali will often make sure to attend one of
these captivating performances that happen in many temples.
Gendér and Gong – For this year’s Bali Comes to Buffalo we asked Gusti Komin to showcase
his singular virtuosity by playing a piece on the gendér wayang. Komin is known in Bali as one
of the best living gender players, able to pour unbelievable speed, technique, and creativity into
the instrument. He will perform on gender with some basic accompaniment of gong and kethuk.
The presentation features Nusantara Arts Balinese artistic director I Gusti Nyoman “Komin”
Darta. Komin is one of the most well regarded and talented Balinese musicians living in the US.
He is one of the only teachers that knows the traditional Balinese gamelan Semar Pegulingan
repertoire that is played on Nusantara Arts instruments and is very talented at the Barong
Dance.
Komin is from Pengosekan village on Bali and comes from a family of musicians. In his youth
Komin went to temples to watch his father play and started learning many instruments. Komin
learned in the true Balinese way: at home, in the temple, and in the community through
experiences with close family and friends. He became known as a virtuoso player and helped
found one of the most famous Balinese performing arts ensembles: Cudamani. For the last 10
years Komin has been living in New York and teaching at various colleges such as MIT,
Bucknell, Queens College, and in community groups such as Dharma Swara.
Details and Tickets:
Date and Time: Saturday, December 13, 2025, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Location: Nusantara Arts Performance Center at St. John Grace Episcopal Church, 490
Lafayette Avenue, Buffalo, NY, 14222
Tickets available here
About Nusantara Arts
Nusantara Arts is a nonprofit organization committed to preserving and celebrating the rich,
vibrant cultural heritage of Indonesia in Western New York and beyond. We create expansive
experiences through Indonesian music and performing arts. For more information, visit
nusantaraarts.com