The core members are Diana Norma Szokolyai and Dennis Shafer. The duo seeks to collaborate with other artists and create bridges between music, poetry, dance, and the visual arts.
CORE MEMBER BIOS
Diana Norma Szokolyai
Diana Norma Szokolyai is a Hungarian and American poet, performance artist, and educator. Roses in the Snow (her first book of poetry and photography), placed runner-up for best poetry book in the 2008 national DIY Book Festival. Her work has appeared in The Boston Globe, Area Zinc Art Magazine, Polarity, Up the Staircase, The Dudley Review, Human Rights Institute: Human Rights News, and other publications. She is recipient of a Human Rights Art Award from the University of Connecticut's Human Rights Institute. Composers that have either written music for her texts or commissioned poems for their music include David Krebs (U.S.), Jason Haye (UK), Peter James (UK), Claudio Gabriele (Italy), and Juliet Case (U.S.)
She is co-founder of Sounds in Bloom, an internationally performing poetry-music-movement-art collaborative that performs in theaters, bookstores, concert halls, art galleries, educational settings. and forests. Sounds in Bloom recently started the Chagall Performance Art Collaborative Series, which is currently in residence at the Zeitgeist Outpost in Cambridge every third Friday of the month.
Together with saxophonist/composer Dennis Shafer (co-founder), they collaborate with a variety of international artists, and give workshops to children and adults. With Sounds in Bloom, she has performed at Cité Internationale des Arts (Paris), Zeitgeist Outpost Art Gallery (Cambridge), Mobius Center for Experimental Art (Boston), Tenri Cultural Institute (New York), The Boston Conservatory, Longy School of Music (Cambridge), and in other venues including spoken word events and artist "salons" in Paris, Vienna, and Budapest.
Education:
HARVARD UNIVERSITY (Cambridge, MA)
Ed.M Arts in Education (2009)
UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT (Storrs, CT)
2-yr exchange with SORBONNE PARIS III and PARIS IV (Paris, France)
M.A. French Literature and Cultural Studies (2007)
Thesis: "Re-examining Subjectivity and Deconstructing the Gypsy/Gadjo Paradigm: Education and Creation of the 'Gypsy' Poet"
UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT (Storrs, CT)
B.A. magna cum laude French, minor in Human Rights (2004)
activities: UNESCO student Ambassador for Human Rights, President-Intercultural Federation, Vice President- International Relations Association
Dennis Shafer (saxophonist, composer)
Co-founder of Sounds in Bloom, saxophonist Dennis Shafer was presented with a Legacy Award from the Creativity Foundation in 2008. A native of Lawrence, Kansas, he has returned to Boston after three
years in Paris, France where he studied with saxophonist
Jean-Michel Goury. In Paris, Dennis worked with several great
composers and saxophonists, including Francois Rosse, Etienne Rolin,
Yosh'ko Seffer, Francois Coutinaud, and Rico Gubler. He also
premiered works by Robert Lemay, Jacques Hetu, Yosh'ko Seffer, and
toured with various ensembles across France, as well as Austria and
Hungary. Dennis Shafer is the founder and co-founder of several
groups in addition to SIB, including Le Tapis Volant, the Skyline
Quintet, the Back Bay Saxophone Quartet and the Opus Jazz Duo.
Returning to Boston where he has premiered works by Robert Morris,
Micheal Paull, and Larry Bell.
Education:
THE LONGY SCHOOL OF MUSIC (Cambridge,MA) (2009)
Artist Diploma (with Kenneth Radnofsky)
CONSERVATOIRE NATIONALE DE BOULOGNE BILLANCOURT (Boulogne, France)
3 years of study with saxophonist Jean-Michel Goury (2004-2007)
THE BOSTON CONSERVATORY (Cambridge, MA)
Bachelor of Music cum laude 2004)
COLLABORATIONS:
to be updated...
Ellom in Voice (performing our poems together with musicians www.myspace.com/alonetimewithme) -Estonia, Paris, Boston
Jean-Michel Goury (saxophones)- Paris
Mattias Leboucher (piano)- Paris
Elise Douylliez (violin)- Paris
The Gleason's Twins (trumpet, voice, poetry-)- Boston & New York http://www.myspace.com/gleasonstwin
Jay Fellito (bass) - Boston
Dawson Hill (pianist and singer)- Maine
Chris Montecalvo (drums), -Rhode Island
Vox 4 Quartet (New York )
Juliet Case (composer) - Cambridge
The Vortex Other Dimension Ensemble- Cambridge, MA -http://brunelmethod.com/
Peter James (sound artist, bass player)- UK- http://www.myspace.com/2still
Keith Sanders (Viola)- Cambridge, Boston, New York- http://www.myspace.com/ksviolinz
Victor Pachas (flamenco guitar) -Boston Paris
Jason Haye (sound/media artist,) -UK- http://www.myspace.com/project5am
Duo Zéphyr : Jean Michel Goury (saxophones) and Sophie Goury (flutes)- Paris,France
Antonia Klimenko (poet, actress, pianist, jazz singer, visual artist) Paris, France
Poem inspired by the Brakhage film, "Mothlight," at the request of Project: 5a.m., who composed music (hear it on the playlist under "Space Mothlight":
Influences
MOTHER NATURE
cosmic bodies- their expansions and explosions,
birds- their feathers and songs,
mountains- their waterfalls and fog,
flowers- their tender buds and blushing petals,
rain- its after-glow and sweet scent
LITERARY:
Carolyn Forché, Virginia Woolf, Zbigniew Herbert, Zora Neale Hurston, Marcel Proust, Kathleen Spivack, Allen Ginsberg, Marguerite Duras, Antonia Klimenko, Agnes Martin...
MUSICAL:
Luciano Berio, Madredeus, Mari Boine, Christian Lauba, Erik Satie, Pink Floyd, Steve Reich, Philip Glass, Luciano Berio, Sigur Rós, Villa Lobos, Leonard Cohen, Simon & Garfunkle, Srdjan Grujijec, Erica Buettner, The Gotan Project, Ihe Velvet Underground, Dead Can Dance, Jacques Brel, Loreena McMcKennitt, ...and more including cefalophones and other imaginary instruments...
VISUAL:
Chagall, Kadinsky, Picasso, Agnes Martin, Klimt, Anselm Kiefer, Dali, Magritte, all involved in the Impressionist and Post-Impressionist movements (what a beautiful thing to give priority to light), Paul Chan, Marina Abramovic, Man Ray, Frida Kahlo, Max Ernst, Rothko...
Sounds Like
What some people have said:
Poet & Writer Ed Luhrs has called the poetry "wild" and "an adventure into ecstatic realms."
" Your 'Ripped Lullaby' reminded me of Steve Reich"- Anna Robinson (musician, The Boston Conservatory)
06/18/09 Shakespeare and Co. Bookstore with Ellom
06/11/09 The Percolator Art Gallery (Lawrence, KS)
06/05/09 Fairbanks Art Gallery, Dept. of Art Oregan State University
05/15/09 Zeitgist- Chagall Performance Art Collaborative presents "Spatial Poetics"
05/12/09 poetry for MIT multimedia installation- secret attic studio
05/08/09 Installation at Carpenter Center for Visual Art (Harvard)
04/17/09 Zeitgeist Outpost with Momentum
04/07/09 The New School of Music with Ellom & Chagall Performance Art Collaborative
04/05/09 Zeitgeist Outpost Art Gallery with Estonian Poet Ellom
03/13/09 Jewitt Hall, Longy School of Music, and premiering works in collaboration with
Italian composer Claudio Gabriele and David Krebs
02/18/09 Cygnet Fest Fundraiser curated by Emily Beattie
02/08/09 Zeitgeist Outpost Art Gallery Opening with Vox 4 String Quartet and
Simon Tedesci
12/06/08 The Grolier Poetry Bookshop
11/17-12/05 Harvard’s Gutman Library Visual Art Exhibit
12/04/08 Hungarian folk songs in song and stories at Harvard Multicultural Festival
11/07/08 Zeitgeist Outpost Art Gallery with Serbian Guitarist Srdjan Grujicic
11/01/08 Mobius: Boston’s artist-run center for experimental art with Gleason’s Twins
& composer Juliet Case
10/04/08 Tenri Cultural Institute of New York (http://www.tenri.org/) with the Vox 4
Quartet
10/23/08 Conroy Commons Cabaret in Longfellow- Harvard University
10/03/08 Zeitgeist Outpost Art Gallery: Sounds in Bloom hosts the Vortex Other
Dimension Series in Contemporary Performance Art
7/31/08 La Cité Internationale des Arts (Paris) with Dennis Shafer (saxophone)
Estonian Ellom in Voice (Poetry) and French musicians Mattias Leboucher
(piano) and Elise Douyliez (violin)
Sounds in Bloom is very happy to start the Chagall Performance Art Collaborative series.
My Collaboration with Ellom
"The Deadly and Wide Oceans Inside"
Last July, Ellom flew from Estonia and met us in Paris. We worked intensely in collaboration with musicians Dennis Shafer (sax), Mattias Leboucher (piano), and Elise Douylliez (violin). The city itself was our loveliest patron.
A REVIEW OF MY BOOK OF POEMS, ROSES IN THE SNOW:
Stanislavski said: “Love the art in yourself, not yourself in the art.” Roses in The Snow is an absolute testament to that. Each poem and photograph within it resonates authenticity, grace, and depth without pretension or device. The author’s words and images depict strength through vulnerability, silence through voice, light through shadow and pay homage to the strange dance of sadness with beauty.
Roses in the Snow is an exquisite collection of postcards from journeys through the inner and outer universes. I challenge anyone to read “The city is falling in my heart again” and not believe that at some point in some place, it was written for them.
The carefully placed black and white photos make you feel as though you really are sitting at the next table from one of the instants the author has carefully captured and holds still-breathing. “Dove in a Fountain in Cordoba” left me joyously perplexed for a day about what defines captivity and freedom.
Watch out for this book. You can put it down, but it will get up and silently follow you.
-Sairica Rose, poet & author of Subtitles for a Silent Movie (Reactor Press)
Grolier Poetry Book Shop
6 Plympton St., Harvard Square (off of Mass Ave.)
Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02138
phone: 617-547-4648
Hours of operation:
Tues. and Wed. : 11am-7pm
Thurs.-Saturday: 11am-6pm
Closed Sunday and Monday
In Paris, France:
The Red Wheel Barrow English bookstore
22, Rue St Paul
75004 Paris, France
+33 1 48 04 75 08
The Village Voice Bookshop
6, Rue Princesse
75006 Paris, France
+33 1 46 33 25 34
here are some of my visual pieces:
Myspace Editor
$(THE TIP JAR )$
SIB NEWS:
Sounds in Bloom is in the process of obtaining non-profit status, and your contributions will soon be tax-deductible.
We would greatly appreciate any pocket change for our TIP JAR to help us give more time to our art and outreach programs. All donations will be made through the safe and secure intermediary PayPal, so your personal information is kept safe.
Donor's names can be published or remain anonymous upon request. If you'd like to make a special request, just send me a message or include a note with your donation. If you'd like to become a FRIEND of Sounds in Bloom by sending a DONATION of 25 EUROS or more, we will send you a DVD of our performance in Paris, which includes bonus Egyptian Bellydancing and Serbian Folk music!
Sounds in Bloom/Diana Norma's Friend Space (Top 40)
dear one! Bruno and I are coming to Paris in July for a few days and are planning an impromptu performance on a street or bridge or anywhere that might take us.
Will you be there? It would be wonderful indeed to catch up, and also for you to meet Bruno.. we will be there from 16th to the 20th July.
yes norma! it was such a warm and beautiful meeting - reciting to innocent passers by and free food and picnic by the canal and waiting three hours for erica's concert (worth it) and everything. hope paris has been continuously kind to you, e.
i was actually planning to audition for Cabaret ;) Well, ok, Marge needed to create some lightmagic and portraits for photo exams. blessings and maybe hopefully we'll meet in Paris . . ,
we try to stay aligned with anyone doing searching, mutable work ... whatever the form ... in case of future crosspollination ... but I don't know that one you mention by name ... but maybe someone else in the group ... it could simply be through ankoku butoh or aesthetic, like your pictures here or the sound
Hey Norma...no worries. It's lovely of you to write. Dennis was wonderful and filmed the whole thing. Yep, I think I met Angela...see you soon, I hope!
Simon x
P.S. Love the sculpture!!Hope outpost goes well :)
Thank you! I do write poetry and have a collection of teenage poems I will probably put out soon. Mostly I am using my poems as lyrics though, since I have so many songs to finish and begin sharing.
Your work is gorgeous and soul-filled. Do you ever make it out to the pacific northwest?
thank you Norma for the invite -I love your sounds too, great music, fantastic voice delivery, I like your words alot and your paintings as well -and congrats for your book and your new so interesting projects. It'd be great to keep in touch. 'Beauty is not pausing'. Best Wishes. Fernando
helloo!! now i have been really missing you a great deal, as i had Ellom to stay last night, and we talked and talked about all the big and small and important subjects, and of course, you are an important subject. so you have been on my mind! this is my old page, which i am reviving, as my performance poetry stuff with bruno seems to be taking an even more musical advancement - i am playing my oboe in public (which i hadn't done since i was 17) to add a more jazzy, bossa vibe.. and also to sound difficult and nearly ugly sometimes too, which is great fun! i'm sure dennis would be interested, as the oboe and the sax often seem to co-exist... well, much light and love always. i am praying that you might step over to Europe for a few weeks this summer so we could catch up buffy xxxxx
Thanks for the compliments! It means a lot to us to get feedback, good or bad, but especially nice comments of course ;) And, especially from a person such as yourself :)
suddenly i miss you today dear Norma. I hope all is well with you. the flowers have arrived here with spring, and it is such a relief. tell me some news much love buffy xxx
22, Rue St Paul
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