Peni Candra Rini sings in a free concert with Gamelan Raga Kusuma at Virginia Commonwealth University on Tuesday night at the Singleton Center for the Performing Arts. The focus is on traditional Javanese and Balinese music, but with the phenomenal range and exquisite control of an operatic soloist, and the willingness to soar far beyond fixed cultural bounds, Candra Rini is a singular talent.

For the past couple of years, it has been deceptively easy to see her perform. She might be off on weekends at Carnegie Hall, or Paris, or London, but then back in town for a free show in the library atrium, or for a First Fridays show at Gallery 5. As the guest artistic director of the University of Richmond community gamelan group, she had provided free instruction to anyone who comes to their biweekly (Thursday and Sunday evening) rehearsals.

More recently, her amazing set at this year’s 20th anniversary Richmond Folk Festival ranged from Javanese lyricism to full-force, punk-tinged sing-a-longs, which must have sounded wild to the people walking by without stopping. Having free access to a world-class artist is not normal. It is something to take advantage of while the opportunity exists. (Note: She will be back with a more conventional concert with the Kronos Quartet on March 21 at Modlin Center for the Arts.) It sounds like hyperbole to say that the youthful Candra Rini might be one of the world’s great living musical artists, but it is true. Her residences in RVA are a gift. Take advantage.

Peni Candra Rini and Gamelan Raga Kusuma play a free concert of traditional Javanese and Balinese at the VCU Singleton Center at 7:30 p.m. Audience members can come onstage and try the instruments- custom built and beautifully carved- after the performance.