DANIEL BERNARD ROUMAIN (DBR)
We’re thrilled to launch the Flynn's new creative chair role with the man who inspired its creation: composer/violinist/educator/activist Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR).
DBR was the Flynn’s first artist-in-residence in 2019-2020. His tenure was a resounding success, reverberating within the Flynn and the greater community. His stay included several collaborative performances as well as hands-on work with students at the Integrated Arts Academy. One of the most memorable achievements of his residency was his marathon performance in front of Burlington’s city hall. 24-hour Protest Song was a community event the likes of which the Flynn had not attempted before. DBR’s presence at the Flynn was so profound that it directly inspired the creative chair role.
As creative chair, DBR will once again help set the tone for the Flynn’s presence in the community. Working alongside Executive Director Jay Wahl, Artistic Director Steve MacQueen, and Associate Director of Programming Madeline Bell, he will influence the creative voice of the organization, setting objectives and devising a plan of action for holding us accountable as we aim for ambitious programming and institutional benchmarks.
I love the Flynn and the audiences that are committed and curious and courageous about what is happening on their stages and in their streets. . . And I love the Flynn for allowing all artists to dare, dream, discover, and do!
Bio
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.
What is amazing about DBR as a teacher, facilitator, and performer is that he asks you to think about yourself in relationship to broader social reality, using his own lived experience, beautiful open communication, and spine-chilling musical connection.
Known for his signature violin sounds infused with myriad electronic, urban, and African-American music influences, DBR takes his genre-bending music beyond the proscenium. He is a composer of chamber, orchestral, and operatic works; has been nominated for a Sports EMMY for Outstanding Musical Composition for his collaboration with ESPN; featured as keynote performer at technology conferences; and created large scale, site-specific musical events for public spaces.
Supported by the New England Foundation for the Arts through the New England Arts Resilience Fund, part of the United States Regional Arts Resilience Fund, an initiative of the U.S. Regional Arts Organizations and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, with major funding from the federal CARES Act from the National Endowment for the Arts.
This project is supported in part by
