Jean Bernard Cerin (baritone)
The April Zanmi Nou Yo Concert features a generous helping of exquisite vocal music, mainly by Haitian composers, curated by Jean Bernard Cerin, the marvelous baritone born in Haiti. Jean Bernard has gathered together a group of gifted singers to turn this program into a reality.
Many of the pieces on the program come from the 11 volume series of Chansons d’Haiti edited by Karine Margron. She will speak about some of the composers you will hear on the concert.
Program features music by:
Michel Déjean (1932-2008)
Louis Barno (Francesco Luigi) 1865-1942
Robert Durand (1917-1955)
Werner Jaegerhuber (1900-1953)
Ludovic Lamothe (1882-1953)
Clara Gottschalk Peterson (1837-1910)
Jean Bernard Cerin & Veena Kulkarni-Rankin
FEATURING
Jean Bernard Cerin, baritone & curator
Anne Carine Exume, mezzo soprano
Jamie Cartright, mezzo soprano
Renee Richardson, soprano
Drucilla Lindsay, soprano
Martin Neron, piano
Veena Kulkarni Rankin, piano
Pax Ressler, piano
About Jean Bernard Cerin
Praised for his “burnished tones and focused phrasing,” baritone Jean Bernard Cerin has charmed audiences throughout the USA, France, Austria, and his native Haiti. An avid recitalist, concert artist and opera singer, his engagements have taken him to venues such as the Kimmel Center and the Academy of Music in Philadelphia, The Kennedy Center and Library of Congress in Washington D.C., Beethovenhaus in Baden bei Wien, Boston’s Jordan Hall and Carnegie Hall in NYC among many others.
A gifted recitalist, Jean Bernard Cerin won the first Gérard Souzay Prize for Best Performance of a French Mélodie at the 2018 Joy In Singing Song Competition in New York City. His video performance of the abolitionist “Oh Say Do You Hear?” for the Star Spangled Music Foundation was featured in the New York Times amid heated national debates about the history of the anthem’s use in political discourse. He appears regularly on the recital platform with his Duo 1717 partner, pianist Veena Kulkarni-Rankin. Duo 1717 reimagines the classical chamber recital in its genre fluid programs that couple traditional classical piano & vocal repertoire with folk songs and original musical folktale adaptations from around the world.
Jean Bernard serves on faculty at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania. He completed his DMA in Voice at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, a Master of Music degree at the New England Conservatory in Boston and a B.A. in Economics at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.