Jason Finkelman

bio

Jason Finkelman’s artistic concerns focus on improvised music, cross-cultural collaborative projects, and composition for dance, theatre, and film. A Philadelphia-born percussionist, Finkelman specializes in the berimbau, an Afro-Brazilian musical bow, and performs on African and Brazilian instruments, many handcrafted by Adimu Kuumba. Finkelman currently combines laptop electronics and acoustic percussion in a duo with Ben Wheeler, blending ambient and noise with music traditions of the world, and with IO Mining Corp, an improvising ensemble featuring four generations of musicians bridging diverse musical backgrounds. He is a founding member of the New York-based ambient, avant world trio Straylight featuring Charles Cohen and Geoff Gersh. Finkelman’s extensive work with choreographer Cynthia Oliver includes BOOM! (2014-15), Rigidigidim de Bamba de: Ruptured Calypso (2009-10), the dance film AfroSocialiteLifeDiva (2004), and the New York Dance and Performance (“Bessie”) Award-winning works SHEMAD (2000) and Death’s Door (1996). In 2012, Finkelman was appointed director of Global Arts Performance Initiatives, an outreach program of Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, and has enjoyed accompanying for dance at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign since 2000.