Peni Candra Rini transcends category. As a singer, she combines operatic range and power with charming intimacy. As a composer and songwriter, she has a deep connection to her Javanese roots, finding myriad ways to translate them into something universal, poetic, and fun.

The Fulbright scholar’s international renown has resulted in multiple, high-visibility trips for concerts during her residency at University of Richmond. She performed at Carnegie Hall, where the famed Kronos Quartet debuted one of her compositions and commissioned her to write four more. She flew to Paris for another performance. Locally, in addition to co-running the open gamelan practices at the university, she has played with Richmond’s own keroncong string band, Rumput, at the library, headlined an amazing double gamelan band concert at VCU, accompanied a traditional wayang [shadow play], and repeated the Kronos piece at the UR chamber music concert. And, perhaps most memorably, gave a packed concert at Gallery5 that ranged from quiet traditional music to full-blown rock and roll.

Those who missed that epochal performance will get another chance with Candra Rini’s upcoming concert at Spacebomb this Friday. The event repeats the program from Gallery5, this time in the studios of Spacebomb Records, another of the city’s jewel-like performance spaces. Backing her again are Rumput, composer Curt Sydnor, Gamelan Raga, and Kusuma. Audiences should expect everything from gentle poetry to punk-tinged energy, with the enhancement of a mesmerizing singer who can power from a growl into the stratosphere with astounding control.