TRI-C CREATIVE ARTS ANNOUNCES PROJECT GILGAMESH Area Artists and Students Invited to Participate CLEVELAND (September 16, 2011) – The Tri-C Creative Arts Division and the Tri-C Presents Performing Arts Series introduce Project Gilgamesh, a year-long campus-wide exploration of poems, themes, songs and study of the world’s oldest story, “The Epic of Gilgamesh.” Artists throughout Northeast Ohio are invited to use their creativity and incorporate the Project Gilgamesh Songbook and recording into an artistic work of their own. Tri-C has commissioned New York City-based composer and violinist Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR) to create the Songbook, a collection of 10-15 contemporary songs inspired by the epic. DBR will be a composer-in-residence at Tri-C throughout the academic school year and will work with area professional musicians, Tri-C faculty, and students in various departments to record the songbook in the fall at Tri-C’s Center for Creative Arts. The Songbook sheet music and recordings will be made available to area artists to download for free to use as a base to create their own work. Artist work can include dance, music, theater, spoken word/poetry, art/photography, video and more to be professionally presented in two evenings of new work titled Project Gilgamesh Songbook Unbound, hosted by DBR. To be considered for Songbook Unbound: Part 1, entries must be submitted by Friday, October 21, 2011. For Part 2, entries must be submitted by February 24, 2012. Select entries, chosen by the Center for Creative Arts staff, will be included in the Songbook Unbound performances. Project Gilgamesh Songbook Unbound: Parts 1 and 2 are scheduled for Thursday, November 17, 2011 and Thursday, April 5, 2012, in theaters at the Tri-C Metropolitan campus. For more information, and to download music and entry guidelines, visit www.projectgilgamesh.com. Information is also available by calling 216-987-4444. Performances Project Gilgamesh Songbook Music by Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR) Words by Margaret Lynch Songbook Unbound: Part 1 Thursday, November 17, 2011, 7 p.m. Center for Creative Arts – Black Box Theatre Tri-C Metropolitan Campus 2809 Woodland Ave Between E. 30th and E. 22nd Free event Songbook Unbound: Part 2 Thursday, April 5, 2012, 7 p.m. Mainstage Theatre Tri-C Metropolitan Campus 2809 Woodland Ave Between E. 30th and E. 22nd Tickets $10 Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR) Haitian-American Daniel Bernard Roumain is a composer, violinist and band-leader noted for blending funk, rock, hip-hop and classical music into energetic live performances. He has collaborated and performed with Philip Glass, Cassandra Wilson, Bill T. Jones and Lady Gaga, among others. Recently DBR created an evening length-work, Symphony for the Dance Floor, for the 2011 BAM Next Wave Festival. The piece gets its Cleveland debut with four performances at the Tri-C Metropolitan campus on October 21-22, 2011. The Epic of Gilgamesh “The Epic of Gilgamesh” is one of the oldest surviving works of literature. It records the adventures of Gilgamesh, who may have been an historical king around 2700 BCE in ancient Sumeria (modern day Iraq). The most complete text survives in an Assyrian library from the 7th century BCE. The epic tells the story of Gilgamesh, a young, partially immortal king who abuses his power and oppresses his people. To view the complete 2011-12 Tri-C Presents performing arts season, visit www.tricpresents.com. Project Gilgamesh is sponsored by Cuyahoga Community College and made possible in part by a grant from the Association of Performing Arts Presenters Creative Campus Innovations Grant Program, funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Ohio Arts Council. Tri-C Presents, a division of Tri-C Creative Arts, is a premier performing arts series in Northeast Ohio, showcasing arts and cultural performances including Tri-C JazzFest Cleveland, Showtime at High Noon, The Song is You!, and the Classical Piano Recital Series. Cuyahoga Community College Creative Arts presents significant contemporary artistic programs of the highest quality for its diverse multicultural audiences. These experiences are designed to stimulate, enlighten, educate and mutually enrich the artists and the community. A variety of free performances, workshops, and residencies are offered throughout the season to complement a wide array of Creative Arts programs held at the Tri-C campuses, PlayhouseSquare and other venues around Northeast Ohio. Arts Presenters, or APAP, is the national service organization for the field of arts presenting. The organization is dedicated to developing and supporting a robust performing arts presenting field and the professionals who work in it. Arts Presenters has nearly 2,000 organizational members and brings nearly 4,000 performing arts professionals together from around the world at the annual APAP Conference NYC. Members range from the nation’s leading performing arts centers, civic and university performance facilities, culturally specific center and festivals, to the full spectrum of artist agencies, managers, producers, consultants and support organizations that service the field, and a growing roster of self presenting artists. The mission of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation is to improve the quality of people’s lives through grants supporting the performing arts, wildlife conservation, medical research, and the prevention of child maltreatment, and through preservation of the cultural and environmental legacy of Doris Duke’s Properties. Established in 1996, the foundation supports four national grant making programs in the areas described above. It also oversees three properties that were owned by Doris Duke in Hillsborough, New Jersey; Honolulu, Hawaii; and Newport, Rhode Island.” Season Sponsors: Association of Performing Arts Presenters Creative Campus Innovation Grant Program, The Performing Arts Fund of Arts Midwest, The Harry K. and Emma R. Fox Foundation, Kulas Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, The National Dance Project of the New England Foundation for the Arts, Ohio Arts Council, Pennsylvania Performing Arts on Tour Media Sponsors: WCPN, Cleveland.com