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Daniel Bernard Roumain, Resident Artist Catalyst at the New Jersey Symphony, on Black Classical Music, Hip-Hop, and The Newark Museum of Art’s Summer Concert Series


By Christopher Benincasa, JerseyArts.com

originally published: 08/05/2022


Earlier this week, composer, performer, educator, activist, and New Jersey Symphony Resident Artistic Catalyst Daniel Bernard Roumain brought jazz and jazz-inspired classical music to the Newark Museum of Art’s Summer Series along with a co-host, Grammy Award-winning clarinetist and saxophonist Paquito D’Rivera, and the New Jersey Symphony Chamber Players.

Roumain has worked with Lady Gaga, Philip Glass, Savion Glover, Bill T. Jones, and many more. He won an Emmy for composing music for ESPN, and he scored the film Ailey, a documentary about legendary choreographer Alvin Ailey, which premiered at Sundance Film Festival last year.

In this episode, we speak with Roumain about his unique role at NJ Symphony, Black classical music and hip-hop’s global influence.

The Newark Museum of Art’s summer concert series continues Aug. 6 at 7 p.m. with Simply Simone: The Music of Nina SimoneAug. 11 — A Night of Jazz and Soul with Patience Higgins and the Sugar Hill Quartet and Aug. 17 — Bass & Flute Extravaganza




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About the author: Christopher Benincasa is an Emmy Award-winning arts and culture journalist. He produced content for NJ PBS for a decade before co-founding PCK Media. Christopher currently works as a freelance producer, video editor, writer, and communications specialist for a diverse set of commercial, non-profit, and government clients. His work has been featured on various PBS stations, and in American Abstract Artists Journal, The Structurist, Paterson Literary Review, and JerseyArts.com.

Content provided by Discover Jersey Arts, a project of the ArtPride New Jersey Foundation and New Jersey State Council on the Arts.




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