Our Story

Beginning in 2014, we began as a collection of music students from the University of New South Wales under the tuition of Dr Manolete Mora.

Since then, our membership has expanded to include UNSW alumni and gamelan enthusiasts from all over Sydney. Under the direction of Dr Manolete Mora, the group creates striking performances that feature cross-cultural collaborations and reflect the connection between Indonesia and Australia.

Balinese Connections

Our instruments were commissioned by the UNSW School of Arts and Media in 2012. These instruments belong to University of New South Wales and were modeled on the unique, diatonically-tuned semar pegulingan of Sanggar Bona Alit in Gianyar, Bali.

Since 2014, our members have travelled to Bali to study traditional and contemporary gamelan music, bringing back their experience to share with Australia. We maintain close ties with the Sanggar (art centre), which was established by Alit Adi Putra and his wife Agung Rai in 1996. Our name ‘Suwitra Jaya’ was given to us by Alit Adi Putra, translating to ‘Noble Friendship’.

Our Achievements

Suwitra Jaya performed at the Bali Arts Festival in 2015, multiple temple ceremonies and at Australian Consulate-General in Bali.

In Australia, our performance highlights include:
-Recurring appearances at the Indonesian Night Markets (UNSW)
-Malaysia Festival 2022
-National Multicultural Festival 2023 (ACT), collaborating with Indonesian dancer Sisca Haskew and tabla player Maharshi Raval
-Bondi Festival of the Winds (2022-)

In January 2024, Suwitra Jaya became an incorporated community association, formalising our group’s commitment to the study and promotion of Balinese music and culture, and creating exciting new opportunities for collaboration.