Daniel Bernard Roumain and DBR Lab to Return to National Sawdust

Daniel Bernard Roumain and DBR Lab will return to National Sawdust to present cross-disciplinary talent by emerging artists from Arizona State University. Original projects explore interactive digital media, music, spoken word and film. This event features special guest performances by Marc Bamuthi Joseph, Paola Prestini and New Jersey Symphony players, plus a special performance by co-facilitators Daniel Bernard Roumain and Jeff McMahon. Other ASU creators contributing to this event include Anton Lapov, Matthew Briehl, Lawson, MF GLOOM, Lucy Oruta, and ONOH.

DBR Lab was founded by Daniel Bernard Roumain and co-facilitated with Jeff McMahon. DBR Lab is managed by Malena Grosz and documented by Keegan Carlson. The Lab operates in close collaboration with DBR Music Productions, SOZO Artists, ASU GAMMAGE and is in residence at the School of Music, Dance and Theatre, Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts, Arizona State University.

DBR Lab Bios:

Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR) is a prolific and endlessly collaborative composer, performer, educator, and social entrepreneur. "About as omnivorous as a contemporary artist gets" (New York Times), DBR has worked with artists from Philip Glass to Bill T. Jones to Lady Gaga; appeared on NPR, American Idol, and ESPN; and has collaborated with the Sydney Opera House and the City of Burlington, Vermont. Acclaimed as a violinist and activist, DBR's career spans more than two decades, earning commissions by venerable artists and institutions worldwide.

Anton Lapov is an artist, musician and curator from Ukraine. His practice combines methodologies of humanities with computational aesthetics. Recently Lapov is developing interactive sound environments.

Jeff McMahon is a Professor in the School of Music, Dance & Theatre, Arizona State University. A writer/performer since 1980, he lives in Arizona and New York, where he explores the kinetics of language and the merging of fiction and non-fiction through the performing body. MFA Nonfiction Writing, School of the Arts, Columbia University; BA Interdisciplinary Art, SUNY/Empire State College.

Phoenix-based filmmaker Keegan Carlson has been telling captivating stories and merging his creativity with technology since 2013. Keegan focuses on telling stories about the human condition and aims to evoke emotion and thought through his work.

Lawson (Malnory) is a musician, ethnomusicologist, and arts manager working to bridge the gap between diverse traditions and promote cross-cultural understanding through his songwriting, research, and administrative work.

Lucy Oruta is a passionate African storyteller whose work explores questions of inherited experience and performative personality.

Malena Grosz has been managing the DBR Lab since its inception in 2018. She is an event consultant and artist manager currently traveling the country while working remotely.

Marc Bamuthi Joseph is a 2017 TED Global Fellow, an inaugural recipient of the Guggenheim Social Practice initiative, and an honoree of the United States Artists Rockefeller Fellowship. Joseph's opera libretto, We Shall Not Be Moved, was named one of 2017's "Best Classical Music Performances" by The New York Times. His evening length work created in collaboration with composer Daniel Bernard Roumain, "The Just and The Blind," was commissioned by Carnegie Hall and premiered to a sold out house at Carnegie in March 2019. His upcoming piece, "Watch Night" is inspired by the forgiveness exhibited by the congregation of Emanuel AME church in Charleston, and will premiere at The Perelman Center in New York in 2022.

Mathew Briehl is a Phoenician guitarist with over ten years of experience. Matthew currently curates the works of BIPOC composers to increase recognition of their contributions to the guitar repertoire.

MF GLOOM is an Asian-American nonbinary musician from Phoenix, Arizona. Armed with their guitar, bass, synth, drums, and powerful vocals, they're ready to take on the world.

The mission of the New Jersey Symphony is to connect with the people and diverse communities of New Jersey through the power of live symphonic music to inspire, entertain and educate. As the Symphony looks toward celebrating its centennial, they are renewing a deeply rooted commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion by championing new, and often local, artists; engaging audiences for whom the inspiring depth and breadth of classical music will be new; and incorporating the broadest possible representation in all aspects of the organization-all to better reflect and serve their vibrant communities.

ONOH is an interdisciplinary artist who takes many forms - animator, educator, performer and creative coder. Using both human and computer as collaborators, ONOH delights in transforming storytelling through advanced technologies.

Composer Paola Prestini co-founded National Sawdust in 2015. She guides National Sawdust's creative leadership along with furthering partnerships and strategic planning. She has created over 25 large works and was named one of the Top 100 World Composers (NPR), the Top 35 Female Composers in Classical Music (The Washington Post), and one of Brooklyn Magazine's "influencers of Brooklyn culture." Prestini's music has been commissioned by the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Barbican Centre, Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Los Angeles Opera.

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