Rachel Cooper (April 20, 1954) is an American performing arts presenter specializing in

cultural exchange Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, attitudes, and habits of the individuals in these ...

. She is the Director of Global Performing Arts and Cultural Initiatives for the

Asia Society The Asia Society is a 501(c)(3) organization that focuses on educating the world about Asia. It has several centers in the United States (Manhattan, Washington, D.C., Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle) and around the world (Hong Ko ...

. Before joining the Asia Society she headed the Festival of

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

which brought over 200 artists to 30 states in the United States. Along with I Wayan Suweca and

Michael Tenzer Michael Tenzer (born 1957) is a composer, performer, and music educator and scholar. Career Tenzer was born in New York City and studied music at Yale University (BA. 1978) and University of California, Berkeley (Ph.D. 1986). After teaching at Y ...

, she co-founded

Gamelan Sekar Jaya Gamelan Sekar Jaya is a Balinese gamelan ensemble based in Berkeley, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It has been called "the finest Balinese gamelan ensemble outside of Indonesia" by Indonesia's Tempo Magazine. It performs the music an ...

which was the first community-based

Balinese gamelan Gamelan (; ; , ; ) is the traditional ensemble music of the Javanese, Sundanese, and Balinese peoples of Indonesia, made up predominantly of percussive instruments. The most common instruments used are metallophones (played with mal ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Career

Cooper lived in

from 1983 to 1988, teaching English while participating in performances at

Taman Ismail Marzuki Ismail Marzuki Park Jakarta Arts Center (, TIM), is an arts, cultural, and science center located at Cikini in Jakarta, Indonesia. Taman Ismail Marzuki complex comprises several facilities including six performing arts theaters, cinemas, an exh ...

. In 1985 she helped organize Gamelan Sekar Jaya's first tour to Indonesia. The group had been invited to perform at the

Bali Arts Festival Bali Arts Festival (; ) or PKB is an annual arts festival in Bali, Indonesia that celebrates, preserves and develops Balinese art and culture. First held in 1979 it has become Indonesia's longest-running arts festival. The month-long event begin ...

Denpasar Denpasar (; Balinese script, Balinese: ᬤᬾᬦ᭄ᬧᬲᬃ, ''Dénpasar'') is the capital city of the province of Bali, Indonesia. Denpasar is the largest city in the Lesser Sunda Islands and the second largest city in Eastern Indonesia after ...

and would continue to perform in six other cities including

Jogjakarta Yogyakarta is the capital city of the Special Region of Yogyakarta in Indonesia, in the south-central part of the island of Java. As the only Indonesian royal city still ruled by a monarchy, Yogyakarta is regarded as an important centre for cl ...

, in

Central Java Central Java (, ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia, located in the middle of the island of Java. Its administrative capital is Semarang. It is bordered by West Java in the west, the Indian Ocean and the Special Region of Yogya ...

. After returning to the United States, Cooper coordinated the Performing Arts program of the Festival of Indonesia from 1990 to 91. She has worked at the Asia Society since 1993 and has produced and presented over 300 performances, tours, and commissioned artists. She has worked with many of the premiere cultural institutions in the United States. Among the many projects she has produced are Creative Voices of Muslim Asia, Chorus Repertory Theater of Manipur, Dance the Spirit of Cambodia, Nan Jombang, Shahram and Hafez Nazeri in the Path of Rumi, Cooper has presented and curated film programs from

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, Indonesia,

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

, and

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

, as well as producing and presenting performances from throughout Asia. She has co-sponsored and presented various

film festival A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theater, cinemas or screening venues, usually annually and in a single city or region. Some film festivals show films outdoors or online. Films may be of recent ...

s and film series at the Asia Society, including the Iranian Documentary and Short Film Festival, the Asian American International Film Festival, and the IAAC India Film Festival, among others. She has organized major arts and culture initiatives, including the Festival of Song: Music of India and Pakistan. In addition, she has conducted and published research on the global impact of the arts, which resulted in the report Making a Difference through the Arts. In 2006 she was awarded the

Dawson Award Dawson may refer to: People and fictional characters *Dawson (surname), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Dawson (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name Places Antarctica ...

for Sustained Excellence in Arts Programming.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, Rachel Ann 1954 births Living people American entertainment industry businesspeople American impresarios