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Festival AccompanistsTigger Benford
Tigger Benford is a percussionist and composer, specializing in hand drumming, improvisation and music for dance. In recent years he produced scores for the well-known modern dance choreographers Sean Curran and Jane Comfort, and numerous other works for less widely known but highly gifted choreographers and companies. His scores for dance have been funded by Meet the Composer, the Dodge Foundation, American Music Center and the Flagler Trust. Other recent work includes the release of two CDs: Talamalika from 2004, and Songs From The Second World from 2007, with fellow Batesians Peter Jones and Jesse Manno. Nearing completion is an instructional video on the subject of hand drumming and percussion for modern dance technique class. Benford is an Associate Professor in the Dance Department of Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University. http://www.tiggerbenfordpercussion.com/ Rajesh Bhandari
Rajesh Bhandari began studying tabla at the age of nine at the East Indian Academy in New York with Pandit Ravideen Ramsamooj. He continued his study of tabla, harmonium and classical Hindustani vocal techniques, as well as studying Latin, West African, Jazz and Western Classical music. Often sought after as an accompanist, he began teaching and performing in Florida in the late 90's. Since 2000 he has worked as an accompanist for the New World School of the Arts (Miami) where he played for Peter London, Robert Battle, Jacqulyn Buglisi, Ethel Winter, Toni Pierce Sands, the Merce Cunningham and Martha Graham companies. He has had the privilege to perform with Lakshmi Shankar (vocalist for the film Gandhi), Krishna Mohan Bhatt, Sharafat Ali Khan, Questlove, Krishna Das and many others. Rajesh has performed and taught at many universities including University of Miami, University of Florida, MIT, Harvard and NYU, as well as across the U.S., South America and Canada. He is now studying with Pandit Samir Chatterjee and developing his own fusion compositions. He currently serves as an accompanist at Rutgers University and the Martha Graham School. Glen Fittin
Percussionist Glen Fittin received his BA in Classical Performance from William Paterson University. He was the Music Director for the Stuyvesant Cove summer concert series in 2004-2005 and has been an Adjunct Professor, accompanist/ composer at Montclair State University since 1993. Glen has also served as a dance accompanist at Brooklyn Academy of Music, Rutgers University, Raritan Valley College, New Jersey School of the Arts, Dance Space Center, Bates Dance Festival and for the Paul Taylor Dance Company. He has composed music for Freespace Dance, Kim Whittam, Umoja, Art of Motion and Ruth Clark. He has also been a percussionist, rehearsal accompanist and workshop presenter for the Broadway production, The Lion King since 1998. In 2004 he performed at the Crossover Festival Dance and Korea International Drum Festival in Seoul Korea. His music for dance CD entitled Circulation was released in 2001. Peter Jones
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 the disc Songs From The Second World, a collaboration with Tigger Benford and Jesse Manno and a new solo instrumental project which will be out in 2008. Currently, he is musical director for the dance program at Mount Holyoke College in western Massachusetts. http://www.joneschord.com/
Carl Landa
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| photo Phyllis Graber Jensen |
Jesse Manno was born into a performing arts family and grew up around theaters and studios in New York and Colorado. He began composing original scores for dance/theatre/film/multimedia productions as a teenager and has never tired of it. He has co-created with David Dorfman, Gabriel Masson, Mel Wong, Liz Lerman and David Taylor among others, and his work has been heard on stages in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and most of the U.S. He is the recipient of three Meet The Composer grants and a grant from the National Guild of Organists. In 2005 he created the music for the circus arts production Lazer Vaudeville that had a long run Off-Broadway at the John Houseman Theater and the Lamb's Theater. Jesse has been music director of the dance department at the University of Colorado, Boulder, since 1991 and has also been on the music faculty at Naropa University. He is a multi-instrumentalist and vocalist with a wide stylistic range and a particular love of Balkan and Middle Eastern music. http://www.jessemanno.com/
John Clark Stiefel
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Pianist and composer John Clark Stiefel attended the Oberlin Conservatory where he studied with Peter Takacs, Lydia Frumkin and Joseph Schwartz. While a student at Oberlin, he began improvising for ballet and modern dance classes, going on to become a highly successful pianist for dance, working at such institutions as the American Dance Festival, Bates Dance Festival, Juilliard School, Wuppertal Tanz Theater of Pina Bausch, Salzburg Festspiele and the Paris Conservatory. The dance studios provided fertile ground for improvisation, experimentation and collaboration with choreographers, resulting in the creation of numerous works including Para 'M', first prizewinner in the 1994 Madrid Choreography and New Music Competition. From 1996-2001 he toured with Meredith Monk, performing concerts throughout Europe. Since 1992, Clark has been living in Essen, Germany where he is on the faculty of the Folkwang Hochschule for Music, Theater and Dance. He continues to give concerts, compose music for dance and theater productions, perform musical experiments in his home studio, and enjoy a full life of music making.
Shamou
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| Photo by Phyllis Graber Jensen |
Shamou's music career began at an early age in his native Iran, He trained at Berklee College of Music in Boston. A well-known figure in the Boston music scene in the mid-90’s, Shamou was the lead singer and percussionist with several award-winning world music ensembles. He has also performed with renowned club DJ’s in San Francisco and Las Vegas. Shamou 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 created original scores for choreographers Vincent Mantsoe, Stephan Koplowitz, Robert Moses and Judy Smith of AXIS Dance Company, and for productions with Sacramento Ballet, Portland Stage Company among others. Shamou has released three CDs; a solo entitled Spirits Dance, Shodjah with his former band, and Loopin' Live at CCE with his current band Loopin' and is currently working on two CDs for release in 2007. http://www.shamou.com/
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