Composer joins hands with St. Lukes chamber ensemble

NEW YORK – On Saturday, June 1 at 2 p.m., Daniel Bernard Roumain, nationally known classical composer, premieres his not-so-traditional collaboration with the St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble in Chelsea at The Dia Center for the Arts (548 West 22 Street).

As part of the Ensemble’s innovative “Second Helpings” Series, six of its players will perform the world premiere of Roumain’s Fast BLACK Dance Machine.

Scored for flute, clarinet, violin, cello and piano, Fast BLACK Dance Machine is chamber music written with a DJ’s sensibility and approach. Roumain said, “I wanted the music to be fast, funky and danceable, but I also wanted something else, something less tangible or even predictable.”

The work to be premiered here is both “improvised and formal.” As a DJ often takes pre-existing musical material and rearranges it (or interprets it), so too did Roumain work and rework his own material, stealing from himself, and like a DJ, creating something else.

The “Second Helpings” series prides itself on showcasing the work of contemporary composers with repertoire bridging the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Roumain is a case in point: often described as “a combination of Mozart, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Prince,” Roumain regularly receives complimentary reviews from The New York Times, Newsday and various critics.

Recent and upcoming Roumain performances in New York City include the world premiere of his “Harlem Essay” by the American Composer’s Orchestra at Carnegie Hall; the world premiere of “King” at Aaron Davis Hall; and solo appearances at Harlem’s Sugar Shack, Joe’s Pub, Exit Art and the “Never Felt Better” show at the Harlem School of the Arts. Roumain will make a Brooklyn debut on Next Next, the Brooklyn Art Museum cafe’s presentation during the 2002 Next Wave Festival.

According to Roumain, the highlight of participating in the “Second Helpings” series is “the interaction among the performers, composers, and audience.” The performance is hosted by St. Luke’s composer-in-residence Joan Tower.

To order tickets visit www.orchestraofstlukes.org