2013 Festival Accompanists
Osubi Craig
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Osubi Craig is a traditional West African percussionist, performer, accompanist, educator, administrator and advocate. As a product of the nearly forty year-old Pan-African cultural arts movement in the U.S. and a fourth generation percussionist, Osubi is committed to the preservation, perpetuation, presentation and study of African culture and the cultures of the African Diaspora. He has studied traditional African drumming techniques with master drummers Abiodun McCray, Chief Bey, Stone Montgomery and Mbemba Bangoura. Osubi received a B.S. in Industrial Engineering while minoring in Jazz Studies at Florida A & M University, and performed with the prestigious FAMU Marching 100 band, Jazz Ensemble, and Orchesis Contemporary Dance Theater in both the U.S. and Europe. He holds a M.A. in Arts Administration from Florida State University. He has worked extensively with children, serving as a staff musician for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and National Dance Institute's Arts in Education programs. He has been an artist for the Philly Pops (Philadelphia, PA) and New Jersey Performing Arts Center (Newark, NJ) arts in education programs.
http://www.prophecymusicproject.org/home.htm
Glen Fittin
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| photo by Phyllis Graber Jensen |
Glen is an Adjunct Professor and dance musician for the Hofstra University Department of Dance, and a visiting specialist for Montclair State University, Dance New Amsterdam, and Steps on Broadway. He began playing for dance at Rutgers University where he later recorded his CD entitled, Circulation with Michael Toal. He has worked with choreographers Robert Battle, Michael Foley, Sean Curran, Donald McKayle, Gabe Masson, Aya Shibahara, Keith Thompson, Mark Dendy and David Dorfman, among others. Glen is the recipient of Meet the Composer and Center for American Music grants for his scores for dance. Focusing on the use of global percussion, including the frame drum, he has performed and recorded with Glen Velez, (Rhythm Color Exotica Ellipsis Arts 1996), Bernie Worrell, Tigger Benford, John Tchai, Joseph Jarman, Annea Lockwood, Dez Cadena, Richard Barone, Tony Visconti, Valerie Naranjo, Montego Joe,Women of the Calabash, The Rhythm Monsters, Marafanyi, Mbiradinda, and many others. Glen has accompanied and performed at the Bates Dance Festival, American Dance Festival, Korea Drum Festival, Seoul Dance and Music Improv. Festival Rhethymno Renn Fest Crete. Kaatsbaan (NY) and the North American Frame Drum Festival. His theater credits include The Lion King on Broadway and Shrek the Musical. His current projects include serving as percussionist for legendary FUNK keyboardist, Bernie Worrell (P-Funk, Talking Heads) and Jimmy Destri (Blondie). Upcoming recordings are planned with jazz legend, John Tchcai and Joseph Jarman (Art Ensemble of Chicago).
Peter Jones
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| photo by Phyllis Graber Jensen |
Peter Jones is a composer, multi-instrumentalist and improviser with a wide stylistic range. He has been an active musician in the dance field for over 20 years. He has created numerous scores for choreographers including, Viscous Beauties for Kevin Wynn, 21st Century Stride for Danny Buraczeski’s JAZZDANCE! and The Metal Garden for Sean Curran. He has released seven CDs of music on his own recording label, Joneschord Music. New releases include Gradual Motion III and Gradual Motion IV. He is Musical Director for the dance program at Mount Holyoke College in western Massachusetts.
www.joneschord.com
Carl Landa
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| photo by Arthur Fink |
Carl Landa is a full-time accompanist at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY. He plays piano, synthesizer, percussion and hammered dulcimer and has composed scores for dance, video, film and television. Before joining the Skidmore faculty in 2000 he accompanied classes on a full-time basis at the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance, Merce Cunningham Studio, Julliard School, Jose Limon Institute and many private studios in New York.
http://www.carllanda.com/
Jesse Manno
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| photo by Phyllis Graber Jensen |
Jesse Manno is a composer, producer, multi-instrumentalist and teacher based in Boulder, CO, where he is Music Director of the University of Colorado Dance Department and runs a small recording studio. His work has been presented all over the US, as well as in several European and Asian countries, and he has received three Meet the Composer grants, among others. Playing for dance classes has been his favorite professional activity for 25 years running. He is honored to be enjoying his thirteenth season doing so at the Bates Dance Festival.
http://www.jessemanno.com/
Albert Mathias
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Albert Mathias has been creating music for movement in San Francisco since 1991. He is a multi-disciplinary musician whose focus includes accompaniment, composition and sound design for dance/theater, CD, film and solo works for the stage. Since 1998 Mathias has been Music Director of La-Alternativa (formerly Motion-Lab) with dancer/choreographer Kathleen Hermesdorf. Motion-Lab has produced five evening length works for the stage and released six works for CD. Mathias joined Bebe Miller Company in 2002. In 2006 he received a New York Bessie award for his work on Miller's Landing/Place, an evening length multimedia performance that has toured the continental US extensively. Since 1996 Mathias has also been the primary percussionist for international touring/recording artists, LiveHuman, an improvisation-based trio, with bassist, Andrew Kushin and DJ Quest. He attended Cal Arts in 1991-1993 training in traps, tabla, voice and accompaniment under the guidance of masters Amiya Dasgupta, John Bergamo and Leonice Shinneman. He has also had the honor of private study with legends Pandit Swapan Chauduri, Sri Ravi Bellare, and the late great Tony Williams. Mathias proudly plays a custom wireless electronic midi percussion controller called Zendrum.
Shamou
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| photo by Phyllis Graber Jensen |
Shamou’s music career began at an early age in his native Iran where he also studied and performed as a dancer with the Iranian National Ballet. He began his formal music training in Tehran, studied with teachers from the Royal College of Music in London and completed his training at Berklee College of Music in Boston. He is known nationally for his collaborative work with dancers, including the world-renowned Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Co., Mark Morris Dance Company, ODC/San Francisco and Prometheus Dance Company. He has contributed music to several CD compilations and has released his own solo CDs entitled Spirits Dance, Traces, Shodjah with his former band, and Live at CCE with his current ensemble, Loopin. Shamou has taught hand drumming, percussion, music for dance and body music across the country in a wide variety of settings.
http://www.shamou.com/
Mike Vargas
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Mike Vargas began playing music in 1959. He started specializing in music for dance in 1978.
He works as a freelance composer across the USA and internationally, performing, teaching, recording, and improvising. For the past 13 years, he has been working around the world with Nancy Stark Smith. He teaches on the faculty of the Smith College dance department. He has released 9 CD's.
http://mikevargas.net
