Jay Afrisando is a composer and multimedia artist who works on the intersection of aural diversity, disability, accessibility, and arts. Described by an award-winning journalist and curator Jocelyn Frank as “a multisensory artist,” Jay manifests his work in multisensory and antidisciplinary practices, using various media and approaches ranging from music-theater to installation, filmmaking, participatory performance, storytelling, and listening walk.
His works have been presented at various spaces, including daadgalerie (DE), ARTJOG 2024 (ID), Indexical (US), UCSC Institute of the Arts and Sciences (US), Curb Appeal Gallery (US), Sound Scene at the Smithsonian Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden (US), HERE Arts Center (US), Walker Art Center (US), ARGOS Projector: The Faraway Nearby (BE), Aural Diversity Conference at Attenborough Arts Centre (UK), NYCEMF-ICMC at Fridman Gallery (US), and Linux Audio Conference at Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (US).
He is a DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Fellow 2024, a MAP Fund Grantee 2022, and a Jerome Hill Artist Fellow 2021-22.
Jay earned Master’s and Doctoral degrees from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, in 2018 and 2022, respectively. He has been grateful for guidance from mentors and fellow artists, including multilingual vocalist and composer Jen Shyu and the late interdisciplinary artist Djaduk Ferianto.
aural diversity, disability and arts, acoustic ecology, decolonizing arts practices, Indonesian contemporary arts
The Arts Research Institute for a Collaborative Grant. UCSC Arts Research Institute.
DAAD Artists-in-Berlin (Berliner Künstler*programm) 2024. Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst.
2023
Sounding Ground. Zeitgeist (funded by the Jerome Foundation).
Next Step Fund FY23. Metropolitan Regional Arts Council (MRAC) Minnesota.
2022
CPI Follow-up Support Program. Korean Foundation for International Cultural Exchange (KOFICE).
MAP Fund 2022. MAP (funded by Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Howard Gilman Foundation, and Mellon Foundation).
2021
Jerome Hill Artist Fellowship 2021-22. Jerome Foundation.
Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship. University of Minnesota Graduate School.
2020
ABT Award 2020. Art Music Today, Black Pencil Ensemble, and Trace21.
OneBeat Accelerator Grant 2020. The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and Found Sound Nation.
2019
The Ambassador’s Award for Excellence 2019. The Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia for the United States.
Landmark for Lowertown. Supported by the American Composers Forum and Saint Paul Cultural Star.
2016
The Minnesota Emerging Composer Award 2016. The American Composers Forum.
Hibah Seni Karya Inovatif (Innovative Arts Grant) 2016. Yayasan Kelola (Kelola Foundation).
2015
OneBeat 2015. Supported by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and organized by Found Sound Nation.
2nd Prize Winner, Prix Annelie de Man 2015 Composers Competition. Stichting Annelie de Man.
SOLO EXHIBITION
2024
Jay Afrisando: Listening with all senses. Pop-up exhibition at daadgalerie, Berlin, DE.
2023
is sound is tactile is visual is sound is. Featuring In Which to Trust? (five-channel video and stereo audio installation) and Embodied Music Club (tactile graphic scores, audio interpretations, and sound captions in visual & braille). Curated by Sandy Guttman. Presented at Curb Appeal Gallery, Chicago, IL.
Aural Architecture. Exhibited at ARTJOG 2024 (an annual international arts exhibition, Yogyakarta, Indonesia).
2023
Embodied Music Club (tactile graphic scores, audio interpretations, and sound captions in visual & braille). In collaboration with Andy Slater, Leyna Marika Papach, Daniel Furuta, and Cahya Haniva. Exhibited at Sound Scene 2023, Smithsonian Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, DC.
[your awe or oar or ore or audio or order] (simultaneous writing and timestamped experiences; single-channel video and joint stereo audio). Co-created by Josephine Dickinson, Ed Garland, and Jay Afrisando. Exhibited at Aural Diversity Workshop 5: Music and Performance, Attenborough Arts Centre, Leicester, UK. Supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council UK.
In Which to Trust? (five-channel video and stereo audio installation). In collaboration with Bill Davies, Josephine Dickinson, Ed Garland, Alan Jacques, and Terry Perdanawati. Exhibited at Sound Scene 2022, Smithsonian Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, DC.
2019
Gendhing Cosmic (5-order ambisonics installation, 2019). Exhibited at Linux Audio Conference 2019, Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA), Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, US.
CURATION
2020
Festival Musik dalam Layar (On-screen Music Festival, online festival, 2020). Directed by Jay Afrisando. Curated by Leilani Hermiasih, Nursalim Yadi Anugerah, and Jay Afrisando. Presented by @america, Jakarta, ID. Supported by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and Found Sound Nation through the OneBeat Accelerator Grant 2020, and the U.S. Embassy Jakarta.
2024
The Life of Instruments (percussions, single-channel video, and joint stereo audio, 2024). Performed by Third Coast Percussion at Constellation, Chicago, IL.
[SOUNDSCAPTION: Soundwalk] (single-channel video, 2020) and [SOUNDSCAPTION: Applause] (single-channel video, 2021). Screened at There are New Suns, Aguijon Theater, Chicago, IL. Co-curated by alejandro acierto (Ensemble Dal Niente) and José Luis Benavides.
Listening to/with the Music Center (listening walk, 2024). Performed by the MUSC 120: Seminar in Music Composition’s students. UCSC Music Center, Santa Cruz, CA.
The Life of Instruments (percussions, single-channel video, and joint stereo audio, 2024). Performed by Third Coast Percussion at the April in Santa Cruz Creative Music and Arts Festival 2024, curated by Professor of Music Ben Leeds Carson, at UCSC Recital Hall, Santa Cruz, CA.
[opera captions] (multifaceted performance, 2023). Performed by thingNY at Indexical, Santa Cruz, CA. Partly supported by the UCSC Arts Research Institute and Indexical.
Untitled Night (audio-described dance, 2024). Performed by Morgan Thorson Dance Company at The Great Northern festival, Silver Lake, Minneapolis, MN. Role: Audio Description Creator & Director.
2023
different types of _______ (piano, percussions, clarinet, toys, found objects, and texts on screen, 2023). In consultation with Joan Harris Stephan, Gary Stephan, and Miriam Gerberg. Performed by Zeitgeist at Sounding Ground, Studio Z, St. Paul, MN. Supported by Zeitgeist and the Jerome Foundation through the Sounding Ground.
Perfectly Glitched (tenor recorder, panpipe, viola, accordion, and percussions, 2023). Performed by Black Pencil Ensemble at Intercultural Music Performance, Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, Bandung, Indonesia. Supported by ABT Award 2020 awarded by Art Music Today, Black Pencil Ensemble, and Trace21.
[opera captions] (multifaceted performance, 2023). Performed by thingNY at HERE Arts Center, New York, NY. Supported by the MAP Fund 2022.
CCRMA Presents Jay Afrisando (a solo performance and screening). Presented at CCRMA Live, the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA), Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA.
2022
Drama Kata-Kata (2-channel fixed media, 2018). In collaboration with 19 speakers of 18 languages. Performed at MANTIS Festival of Electroacoustic Music 2022, John Thaw Studio Theatre, Martin Harris Centre, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.
2021
[SOUNDSCAPTION: Soundwalk] (no-audio film, 2020). Screened at ARGOS Projector: The Faraway Nearby (2021), ARGOS Centre for Audiovisual Arts, Brussels, BE.
Expanding the Frame Live (live improvisational digital film, 2021). In collaboration with Lee Noble. Presented at Expanding the Frame, the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN, US. Archived at the Walker’s Bentson Mediatheque, Minneapolis, MN, US.
2020
The Night is Dark and Full of Roarers (saluang, sarunai, bansi, & multichannel live electronics, 2019). Performed by Jay Afrisando at MOXsonic 2020, University of Central Missouri, MO, US.
2019
The (Real) Laptop Music :)) (single-channel video and stereo audio, 2019). Performed at Aural Diversity Conference 2019, Attenborough Arts Centre, Leicester, UK.
Drama Kata-Kata (2-channel fixed media, 2018). In collaboration with 19 speakers of 18 languages. Premiered at October Meeting Contemporary Music and Musicians 2019, Yogyakarta, ID.
Exploring the Music of Your Office (creative workshop). Presented at Landmark Lowertown 2019, George Latimer Public Library and Saint Paul Union Depot, Saint Paul, MN, US. Supported by the American Composers Forum.
2016
Mode[a]rn (concert-length participatory performance, 2016). Co-created and performed by Jay & Gatra Wardaya (Jay Afrisando, Banu Antoro, Ignatius Made Anggoro, Bawien Panggalih, Terry Perdanawati, and Okvan Pramudya). Supported by Hibah Seni Karya Inovatif 2016, Kelola Foundation. Performed at IFI, Yogyakarta, ID.
2015
Gendhing Trans-Border (constructed improvisation for worldwide instruments, 2015). Created during the OneBeat 2015 residency. Performed by Christie Burns, Ng Chor Guan, Daniel de Mendoza, Elena Moon Park, and Denis Peniugin. Premiered at St. Mark’s Cathedral, Seattle, WA, US.
Water Siter (two prepared harpsichords and Erard vleugel/piano, 1015). Performed by Ere Lievonen, Arend Grosfeld, and Anne Veinberg. Awarded the 2nd Prize Winner, Prix Annelie de Man 2015 Composers Competition. Premiered at Orgelpark, Amsterdam, NL.
in 4. (constructed improvisation composed by 40 worldwide composers based on Terry Riley’s in C, 2015). Curated by the music box project. Premiered by Quartet of Quartets at Glebe Justice Centre, Sydney, New South Wales, AU.
EDITED BOOK
2023
Afrisando, Jay, and Muhammad Rayhan Sudrajat (ed.). 2023. Sounding Indonesia, Indonesians Sounding: A Compendium of Music Discourses. n.p.: Sounding Indonesia. Supported in part by KOFICE (Korean Foundation for International Cultural Exchange) as part of the Cultural Partnership Initiative Program.
