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ABOUT DBR |
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Having carved a reputation for himself as an innovative
composer, performer, violinist, and band leader, Haitian-American
artist Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR) melds
his classical music roots with his own cultural references
and vibrant musical imagination.
As a composer, his works range from orchestral scores and
chamber pieces to music for film, the theater, modern dance,
and electronica. In 2007, DBR premiered One Loss Plus,
the first of three works commissioned by the Brooklyn Academy
of Music (BAM) for their Next Wave Festival. Showcasing
his wide-ranging eclecticism, One Loss Plus is
DBR’s evening-length, multimedia work for electric/acoustic
violin, prepared/amplified piano, electronics, and video.
His latest orchestral work and second BAM commission Darwin’s
Meditation for The People of Lincoln is a musical setting
of a pocket play by Daniel Beaty that explores an imagined
conversation between Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln,
and the political relationship between England, North America,
and Haiti. Following its New York premiere in October 2008,
Darwin’s Meditation for the People of Lincoln
moves to the University of Connecticut as a special celebratory
concert February 12, 2009 - the icons’ shared bicentennial
anniversary of their birth.
DBR has collaborated with an array of orchestras and chamber
ensembles. He was recently selected by the Sphinx Commissioning
Consortium, an alliance between Sphinx and nine other American
orchestras (Cincinnati, Detroit, Nashville, New Jersey,
New World, Philadelphia, Richmond, Rochester and Virginia)
to compose a new work for full orchestra to premiere in
2010. Recent performances and commissions include: Five
Chairs and One Table, a commissioned work for Imani
Winds that premiered at Carnegie Hall; WE MARCH!,
a guitar concerto featuring Eliot Fisk and the Stuttgart
Chamber Orchestra; The Tuscaloosa Meditations,
one of the first commissions of a Haitian-American composer
by the University of Alabama composed in honor of Vivian
Malone Jones; Voodoo Violin Concerto, a virtuosic
handling of DBR’s Haitian heritage premiered by the
Vermont Youth Orchestra; Double Quartet: The Kompa Variations,
an exploration of Haitian kompa music for the Providence
String Quartet and a student quartet which premiered at
the First Works Providence festival; and newly commissioned
works for the Florida Youth Orchestra, Ahn Trio and Claremont
Trio. Other projects include original scores for theater
and film. DBR has composed music for Daniel Beaty’s
play Resurrection directed by Oz Scott, the feature
ESPN television segment E:60 Homeless Basketball
in which DBR was bestowed with a Sports EMMY nomination
for musical composition, and documentary films - Strange
Things by Alexandria Hammond and Off and Running
by Nicole Opper (premiered at Tribeca Film Festival) which
will air nationally on PBS in 2010.
From Australia’s Sydney Opera House to Washington
D.C.’s Kennedy Center, DBR continues to premiere and
perform solo and chamber works off of his debut international
solo album etudes4violin&electronix (Thirsty
Ear Recordings) in a worldwide tour with Elan Vytal aka
DJ Scientific. Described as a "demonstration of
unquestionable virtuosity and commitment to the violin’s
expressivity" (All About Jazz), the album showcases
a unified dialogue between DBR and artists from today's
contemporary musical landscape including Philip Glass, Ryuichi
Sakamoto, DJ Spooky, and DJ Scientific. As bandleader of
DBR & THE MISSION, a young, multi-cultural ensemble,
he presents an electrifying show described as "an
evening of chamber music with the accessible feel of a rock
concert" (Albany Times-Union). Touring nationwide
since 2004, DBR & THE MISSION made its international
debut at Australia’s 2008 Adelaide Festival.
DBR serves as Visiting Associate Professor of Composition
at his alma mater, The Blair School of Music, Vanderbilt
University. He’s also the Artist-in-Residence of the
Starbucks-sponsored Seattle Theater Group and the Music
Director of Seattle’s More Music @ The Moore program
for the third consecutive year. Additional positions have
included: Chair of Composition/Theory at the Harlem School
of the Arts; The Van Lier Composer-in-Residence with the
American Composers Orchestra; Artist-in-Residence at Arizona
State University (2003-2006); Assistant Composer-in-Residence
at the Orchestra of St. Luke's and founder of the OSL’s
Young Composers Development Program; Music Director of the
Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company; and Rankin Scholar-in-Residence
at Drexel University.
Proving that he’s "about as omnivorous as
a contemporary artist gets" (New York Times),
DBR recently collaborated and performed with Lady Gaga on
FOX’s American Idol. His accolades range from being
voted as "America’s Assignment" on
the CBS Evening News, to receiving praise as one of the
"Top 100 New Yorkers" (New York Resident),
"Top 40 Under 40" business people (Crain’s
New York Business), one of the entertainment industry’s
"Top 5 Tomorrow’s Newsmakers" (1010
WINS Radio), and spotlighted as a "New Face of
Classical Music" in Esquire Magazine.
A native of Margate, Florida, DBR’s career blossomed
when he studied music as an undergraduate at Vanderbilt
University’s Blair School of Music, completing his
masters and doctoral work at the University of Michigan
under the tutelage of Pulitzer Prize-winning composer William
Bolcom.
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| ABOUT
DBR & THE MISSION |

Click on a member of DBR & THE MISSION
above for bio.
DBR & THE MISSION is (clockwise starting
at upper left): Elan Vytal, aka DJ Scientific (turntables,
beatbox), Jon Weber (viola), Kenny Grohowski (drums),
Jim Robetson (bass), Jessie Reagen (cello), Earl Maneein
(electric violin), Wynne Bennett (music director,
keyboards, groovebox), Daniel Bernard Roumain (electric
violin, acoustic violin, piano, vocals, laptop), and
Matthew Szemela (electric violin).
From
a sold out performance with Philip Glass at Arizona’s
Gammage Auditorium, to the alternative and experimental
monthly show at New York City’s downtown Bowery
Poetry Club, DBR & THE MISSION presents lively,
genre-jumping contemporary music that is captivating
audiences nationwide. Founded in 2003 by composer/performer
Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR), DBR & THE MISSION
is comprised of nine young, multi-cultural musicians
from diverse musical backgrounds including an amplified
string quartet, drum kit, keyboard, a vocalist, DJ
and laptops. Each member is well-versed in modern
classical, jazz, rock, and hip-hop performance practices
and has the profound ability to perform DBR’s
wide ranges of pieces. DBR’s Hip-Hop Studies
and Études were highlighted at the group’s
sold out performance at Joe’s Pub receiving
critical acclaim---“true to form, these vary
greatly in style, from slow, introspective Neo-Classical
ruminations to rhythmically complicated, riffy pieces
that would not be out of place in a dance club.”
(New York Times)
DBR
& THE MISSION recently received a stunning welcome
to Los Angeles at the Cerritos Center playing works
“from a woe-inflicted interpretation of ‘Amazing
Grace’ to turntable-like scratching and deafening
electric Jimi Hendrix riffs” (LA Times). DBR
& THE MISSION’s multi-disciplinary performances
(with Yuki Nakajima often providing a live video mix)
have been applauded at New York’s Joe’s
Pub and Cutting Room, Washington D.C.’s Kennedy
Center, Miami’s Caleb Auditorium, Pace University’s
Schimmel Center, Brooklyn’s 651 Arts, Arizona
State University’s Gammage Auditorium, Williams
College and Montclair State University’s Kasser
Theater.
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