Born in Surabaya, Krisna Setiawan made his concert debut at Goethe-Haus by invitation of The German Cultural Centre. His skills have since been recognized internationally with invitations to perform in Hue (Vietnam), at the Wittenberg University (The United States), at Bachforum Plettenberg, St. Dionysius Dortmund, Romaneum Neuss, Logenhaus Düsseldorf and Alte Feuerwache Köln (Germany).

As a composer, Setiawan studied music analysis and composition with Slamet A. Sjukur, a pupil of Olivier Messiaen & Henri Duttileux and widely regarded as the leading figure in Indonesia contemporary art music. Setiawan is at the forefront of the emerging trend of multicultural music which aim to seamlessly interweave traditional Asian techniques, instruments and motifs with classical Western methods. He is responsible for the development of distinctive pentatonic scales which replicates the musical landscape of the West and East.

Setiawan was funded by The Prince Claus Foundation to participate in a composer’s workshop at Jeunesses Musicales Deutschland in Weikersheim, Germany by invitation of Professor Dieter Mack. He remains the first and only composer from South East Asia to have been invited to the Visby International Composer Centre in Gotland, Sweden as a composer-in-residence.

In recognition of this seminal achievement, his works have been archived by multiple music libraries and universities such as Austrian Composer’s Association (AKM/AustroMechana), Wittenberg University, Museum Musik Indonesia, Universiti Teknologi Mara in Malaysia and Gaudeamus Muzik Centruum in The Netherlands.

Setiawan’s compositions have been recorded and played in both classical concerts and jazz festivals and have been widely performed in Asia (highlights include Yogyakarta Contemporary Music Festival, Festival Dawai Nusantara, Jazz Legacy Concert Series, Malaysian Composer Concert Series and broadcasted at Suara Surabaya Radio Station and Taipei Philharmonics Radio Station) and internationally in Australia (The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Recital Centre, Cairns Paradise Concert, Picton Wollondilly Shire Hall), New Zealand (Hawke’s Bay), The United States (Wittenberg University at Springfield, St Mark’s Church San Francisco, Carnegie Hall New York), Germany (Rathaus Plettenberg, Romaneum Neuss, Logenhaus Düsseldorf, Alte Feuererwache Köln and broadcasted at Deutsche Welle Radio) and The United Kingdom (London St. John’s Smith Square).

Some of his works were released, published and sponsored by Bamacher Musikverlag Austria, John Robert Powers International, Surabaya Arts Council, Shanghai Conservatory Music Press, Move Record Melbourne and Alea Music Publishing USA.