Residency Curator:
Wayne Marshall is an assistant professor of music history at Berklee College of Music. An ethnomusicologist by training and an Americanist in the broadest sense, his research focuses on histories of sound media, popular dance music, and cultural politics. Marshall has published extensively in academic and journalistic venues, from Small Axe to Pitchfork to New York Magazine, as well as on his acclaimed blog, Wayne & Wax. He co-edited Reggaeton (Duke 2009), the first book on the genre, and complements his written work with online mixes, mashups, and other audible "technomusicological" objects.
Balún:
Noraliz Ruiz holds a PhD in Ethnomusicology-Musicology from Kent State University. Her research focuses on the Puerto Rican lutes: cuatro, tiple and bordonúa; particularly in the continuity and change of the instruments’ tradition and performance practice. She has also conducted research about underground music scenes in Puerto Rico and the production of indie pop, electronic and new music on the island. She has taught graduate and undergraduate courses in the popular music program of the Inter American University of Puerto Rico. Noraliz is a member of the electronic indie band Balún and has performed in music festivals in the US, Mexico and Puerto Rico. She is also a co-founder of the children’s music group Acopladitos.
Puerto Rican-born composer and multi-instrumentalist Angélica Negrón writes music for accordions, robotic instruments, toys and electronics as well as for chamber ensembles, orchestras and choir. Her music has been described as “wistfully idiosyncratic and contemplative” (WQXR/Q2) while The New York Times noted her “capacity to surprise.” Negrón has been commissioned by the Bang on a Can All-Stars, A Far Cry, MATA Festival, loadbang, Brooklyn Youth Chorus, Sō Percussion and the American Composers Orchestra, among others. As the first composer-in-residence at the New York Botanical Garden, she composed an immersive work for electronic soundscape and 100 voice chorus performed in the Thain Family Forest. Upcoming premieres include works for Los Angeles Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic (Project 19), Dallas Symphony Orchestra and National Symphony Orchestra (co-commissioned work for orchestra and organ), and San Francisco Girls Chorus. Negrón continues to perform and compose for film.
José Olivares is a musician, visual artist, and educator with over ten years of experience in composing/recording/working for film, TV, web, interactive installations, and physical media. As a visual artist and performer with his musical projects, dreambow ensemble Balún (co-founder along with wife and composer Angélica Negrón) and tropiglitch solo act Amigos Poderosos, José Olivares has presented his work internationally at venues such as Issue Project Room, Rough Trade NYC, Hermoso Ruido (Colombia), SXSW (music & education), Pop Montreal (Canada), Nuevo Fest, Santurce es Ley (Puerto Rico), among others. He holds a BA in film from the University of Puerto Rico and an MPS from the Interactive Telecommunications Program at New York University, where he specialized in interactive cinema and sound. As an educator, Olivares has taught classes and workshops in creative computing, digital literacy and music production for various organizations such as DreamYard Arts Center, El Museo del Barrio, and New York Philharmonic. Currently Jose works as a Director of High School Computer Science Academics with the NYCDOE Computer Science for All initiative developing curriculum, coaching and training public school teachers on various computer science topics
Born and raised in San Juan, PR, Raúl Reymundi trained from an early age at the Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music and went on to obtain a BA in popular music with a concentration in guitar performance from the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico. During this time, he was active in the island’s independent music scene, performing with many acts across a variety of genres including Cellar Door, Odradek, and Ardillas. Upon moving stateside in 2011, he completed a degree in audio engineering from SAE Institute and has since toured across Mexico, Europe, and the United States. He currently works with the community team at Kickstarter, in Brooklyn, NY.
E. Bayoán Ríos Escribano is a Puerto Rican-Mexican film composer, multi-instrumentalist, producer, folklorist, arranger, orchestrator, concert composer, and educator. Bayoán received the 2017 Grammy Award for Best Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative Album with singer-songwriter iLe, and was nominated at the 2005 Latin Grammy Awards for Best Folkloric Album with Tepeu, a Latin-American music group founded in 1973. He has recorded guitar, zampoña (pan flute), charango and bombo legüero (drum from the Andes) with renowned artists such as Eduardo Cabra (Visitante/Trending Tropics), Jorge Drexler, and Chambao. He has written and performed music scores for films such as “15 Lighthouses of Puerto Rico” and “¿Quién eres tú?”. Bayoán also works as an orchestra conductor, teacher and mentor for “Programa Música 100x35” and “Despertar Musical” at the Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico.
Composer, multi-instrumentalist, and interdisciplinary artist Darian Donovan Thomas was born in San Antonio, Texas and is currently based in Brooklyn, New York. He is interested in combining genres and mediums into a singular vocabulary that can express ideas about intersectionality (of medium and identity). Necessarily, he is interested in redacting all barriers to entry that have existed at the gates of any genre - this vocabulary of multiplicity will be intersectional, and therefore all-inclusive.
Shayna Dunkelman is a musician and percussionist based in Brooklyn, NY. Dunkelman is known for her versatile and unique techniques, and use of electronics to access a sonic pallet not found in acoustic percussion. Born and raised in Tokyo, Japan to an Indonesian mother and an American father, Dunkelman became a multi-instrumentalist performing alongside her mother. In addition to solo performances, Dunkelman tours with Du Yun, Balún, Emily Wells, Peptalk, Ali Sethi, and her percussion duo Nomon with her sister Nava Dunkelman. She has also performed with pioneers of avant-garde experimental musicians such as Yuka C. Honda, John Zorn, Yoko Ono, Thurston Moore, and Xiu Xiu.
Concert Guest Artists:
TBA
Concert Film Director:
Gisela Rosario Ramos is an un-disciplinarian artist currently based in Puerto Rico. She studied Black and Puerto Rican Studies and Film and Media Studies at Hunter College, NYC, where she also worked as a documentary editor and was part of Eduardo Alegria’s performance shows in PS 122. Upon returning to Puerto Rico, she worked as Artistic and Programming Director at Casa de Cultura Ruth Hernández, organizing cultural events while continuing to edit and direct films. Her award-winning short documentary El Hijo de Ruby has been shown in international festivals. Her artistic persona, Macha Colón, performs rock/pop music with her band Macha Colón y Los Okapi in alternative venues since 2008. They released their first album Tanquecito de amor (Little Tank of Love) in 2016 and performed in NYC at the Loisaida Festival, La Marqueta Retoña in El Barrio, and the New New Museum. Recently, she won an international documentary competition to film Love Letters to an Iconess, a documentary about a Puerto Rican queer diva who’s now in her seventies. She’s an Art Matters Foundation and NALAC grantee and received the first Resiliency Award through the Arts from the National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts & Culture in Chicago. She’s in post-production of her first feature film, Perfume de Gardenias to be released in 2021.
