The interviews for Spotlight are conducted by Ken Gallo, who writes/edits Meet The Composer's newsletter, MTC NOTES.

Daniel Bernard Roumain and Manuel Sosa

In May 2002, New York City based composers Daniel Bernard Roumain and Manuel Sosa became the first recipients of the Meet The Composer Van Lier Fellowship, support made possible through The Edward and Sally Van Lier Fund of The New York Community Trust. The Fellowship provides support for talented, economically disadvantaged composers in the early stages of their careers.

Daniel Bernard Roumain

Both Mr. Roumain, of Haitian descent, and Mr. Sosa, born and raised in Caracas, Venezuela, have a wealth of cultural history to reference in their music. Says Mr. Sosa of his influence: "With my music, I hope to arrive at a new reality, creating music where the essence is a combination of my Venezuelan upbringing and my own imagination."

Listen (excerpt): Daniel Bernard Roumain's Voodoo Violin Concerto No. 1 (MP3) Listen (excerpt): Manuel Sosa's Lamento (MP3)

Mr. Roumain has developed a strong relationship with his adopted community of Harlem, where he currently resides, serving as Chair of the Music Composition/Theory Department and Composer-in-Residence at The Harlem School of the Arts. Of his pupils he boasts: "Many of my theory students have gone on to composition programs at Harvard, Mannes, and Columbia." In addition, he was recently named the Assistant Composer-in-Residence at the Orchestra of St. Luke's, under Joan Tower; is Music Director of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company; and is an Artist-in-Residence at the Tribeca Performing Arts Center.

Manuel Sosa

Mr. Sosa is Music Advisor and Co-Producer for the Venezuelan-American Cultural Association of New York City; Executive Secretary of The Guild of Composers Inc. (New York City); member of the Board of Directors of Music Mobile; Founder and Conductor of Quadrantis Ensemble (an organization for the propagation of Latin American Classical Music in the greater New York area); and Music Director and Conductor of the Long Island School of Music and Arts (LISMA) Youth Orchestra.

We recently spoke with both composers.

MTC: Who or what inspires you?
MANUEL SOSA: What interests me is the varied processes and spaces created by poetry, painting, sculpture, philosophy, science, and especially architecture. These open the doors to my musical imagination.
DANIEL BERNARD ROUMAIN: African-American people inspire me; artists, politicians, scholars, authors. I am most fascinated by the history and current lives of black people in this country. With my work, I hope to document African-American popular culture and history. I recently completed my third string quartet, Powell, for Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. (premiered February 1, 2003 at the DIA Center in NYC).
MTC: Daniel, Powell was commissioned by the Orchestra of St. Luke's, where you're also the Assistant Composer-in-Residence. With assistance from the Van Lier Fellowship, you've started a mentoring program at St. Luke's. How did that come about and what is your goal for the kids you'll mentor?

Listen (excerpt): Daniel Bernard Roumain's Fast BLACK Dance Machine (MP3), performed by the St. Luke's Chamber Ensemble Listen (excerpt): Manuel Sosa's Geometria I (MP3), for solo piano

DBR: I was fortunate enough to be asked by the orchestra to design and implement a young composers development program around the same time that the Van Lier Fellowship was awarded to Manuel and I. Those funds allowed me to design the program for young, NYC-based composers to meet with me once a month during the current 2002-03 concert season. They'll attend concerts by the OSL, meet with OSL conductors and composers including Joan Tower, guest composers like Philip Glass, and have private composition lessons with me. The program culminates with new works composed and performed by these young composers. My hopes are that the fascination, respect, and love of music and life that I first discovered as a young composer, might resonate with the young composers I mentor.
MTC: How important has mentoring been for both of you?
MS: When you teach very young and talented musicians, you can see the influence you have, not only on their music, but on building their self-esteem. A textbook, recording, or classroom setting can rarely influence you as deeply as personal and intimate interaction with a peer. You never forget your mentors. The endless conversations and musical explorations I had with composer Jacques-Louis Monod will always be a treasure to me both personally and professionally. Jacob Druckman also made a very strong impression on my musical development.

Daniel Bernard Roumain

DBR: Mentoring is a very important learning tool. I feel, as an African-American composer, I have a particular responsibility towards other young composers in my community of Harlem. My involvement at the Harlem School of the Arts, where I am Chair of the Theory/Composition Departments and Composer-in-Residence, allows me to stay connected to many young people in the Harlem community. Many of my theory students have gone on to composition programs at Harvard, Mannes, and Columbia.
MTC: Both of you come from rich cultural backgrounds. How does your heritage influence you?
DBR: My parents are from Haiti. I think their struggles in that country, the discipline of our home, and the guidance I received from my daily, life-long music lessons, all combined to form the person I am today. Haiti is a great and miraculous country that has, unfortunately, suffered from years of civil war and a lack of true leadership. I have several works which use Haitian folk songs as a part of their compositional fabric. The country serves as an important reason for me to lead, guide, and serve as a positive example of Haiti's artistic heritage.
MS: Venezuela influences everything I do. You might say that Venezuela is my heart, and the rest of the world my mind. The amusing thing is that although I've lived in America since I was 16, I still managed to marry a Venezuelan woman. Now, we are teaching our child the Venezuelan traditions and culture I grew up with.

Manuel Sosa

MTC: Manuel, how do you react to Venezuela's current political situation?
MS: With disbelief, sadness, anger, frustration. When Chavez was first elected, many hoped he would help counter the rampant corruption that had plagued the country for so long. Venezuela is a country that has been blessed with so many natural resources, but now there is more poverty than ever before, there is despair, and there is a rift between the different sectors. Pride for my home country prevails though. The peaceful revolution that is taking place by the Venezuelan people should be considered historical, especially in the context of the impassioned and bloody revolutions that are the norm in Latin America. It frustrates me that the international media and community can't quite understand or celebrate it. On a more selfish level, I worry about my family who are all over there.
MTC: Will it effect your music?
MS: The turmoil it causes within me will eventually make its way into the process, whether I want it to or not.
MTC: Manuel, being from South America, do you often get pegged as a "world music" composer?
MS: Since Afro-Caribbean rhythms are prevalent in everything I do, it might lead people to expect my music to have a "world music" feel to it - but it doesn't. Although I might set some of my work in 5/8 time, a difficult yet fabulous Merengue rhythm unique to Venezuelan folk music, the "Latin Music" influence is much more subtle. I often select certain instruments and manipulate their sound to create music whose essence is from my own imagination. Additionally, on a didactic level, I dedicate much of my teaching and work in education to celebrating diversity and exposing people to the vast wealth of Latin American classical music, which is sadly lesser known internationally - even by music professionals.

Listen (excerpt): Daniel Bernard Roumain's Ghetto Strings(MP3), performed by the Minneapolis GuitarQuartet

MTC: How does the Van Lier fellowship help you do what you do?
DBR: It's allowing me to form my own not-for-profit organization. This company will be dedicated to producing concerts in communities where the work of a composer and classical music could have more of a presence. The company hopes to include members of these communities in the production and performance of these new works, all under the guidance of the composer.
MS: The fellowship has offered me what every composer dreams of - the time to dedicate myself to composition. I've been working on several new works: Songs for Guitar & Mezzo Soprano (texts by various authors), a work for string orchestra & percussion for the 3rd Street Music School Settlement. Additionally, I am about to leave for a retreat at the Yaddo Colony to focus solely on my music for a month; I'm writing a trio for flute, viola & harp for a French group called Trio Nobis. Without the Van Lier fellowship, having the necessary time to compose would be next to impossible.