Daniel Bernard Roumain

Daniel Bernard Roumain’s acclaimed work as a composer, performer, educator, and activist spans more than two decades, and he has been commissioned by venerable artists and institutions worldwide. “About as omnivorous as a contemporary artist gets” (NYT), DBR is perhaps the only composer whose collaborations span Philip Glass, Bill T. Jones, Savion Glover and Lady Gaga.

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 won an Emmy for Outstanding Musical Composition for his collaborations with ESPN; featured as keynote performer at technology conferences; and created large scale, site-specific musical events for public spaces. DBR earned his doctorate in Music Composition from the University of Michigan and is currently Institute Professor and Professor of Practice At Arizona State University.

DBR has most recently created the musical scores for the opera WE SHALL NOT BE MOVED, commissioned by Opera Philadelphia; THE JUST & THE BLIND, a collaboration with spoken-word artist and writer Marc Bamuthi Joseph, commissioned by Carnegie Hall; and CIPHER,a new pocket opera for the Philadelphia Boys Choir, based on a conversation with incarcerated young, Black boys.