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BRIO Current and Past Winners
Our 2009 BRIO Awardees
In Literary Arts |
Sima Rabinowitz / fiction/non-fiction
Stacey Robinson / playwriting
Sarah Stern / poetry
Matthew Thorburn / poetry
In Media Arts |
Nicky Enright / experimental film/video
Nadia Hallgren / documentary film/video
Geoffrey Quan / narrative film/vide
In Performing Arts |
Brandon McReynolds / vocal performance
Desi Moreno-Penson / acting
Maxim Pakhomov / instrumental performance
Antonio Polanco / vocal performance
Melissa Primavera / vocal performance
Teana Rodriguez / vocal performance
Jen Shyu / instrumental performance
Damon White / vocal performance
In Visual Arts |
Gloria Adams / painting
Cara Judea Alhadeff / photography
Dennis Redmoon Darkeem / craft
Marisol Diaz / photography
Michael Ferris Jr. / sculpture
Rosemarie Fiore / printmaking/drawing
Antonio Jerkovic / photography
Kalissa Maxwell / photography
Vittorio Ottaviani / painting
Jennifer Tomaiolo / painting
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Meet our 2009 BRIO Winners
First Row: 
Gloria Adams (painting), Cara Judea Alhadeff (photography), Dennis Redmoon Darkeem (craft), Marisol Diaz (photography), Nicky Enright (experimental film/video).
Second Row: Michael Ferris Jr. (sculpture), Rosemarie Fiore (printmaking/drawing), Nadia Hallgren (documentary film/video), Antonio Jerkovic (photography), Kalissa Maxwell (photography).
Third Row: Brandon McReynolds (vocal performance), Desi Moreno-Penson (acting), Vittorio Ottaviani (painting), Maxim Pakhomov (instrumental performance), Antonio Polanco (vocal performance).
Fourth Row: Melissa Primavera (vocal performance), Geoffrey Quan (narrative film/video), Sima Rabinowitz, (fiction/non-fiction), Stacey Robinson (playwriting), Teana Rodriguez (vocal performance).
Fifth Row: Jen Shyu (instrumental performance), Sarah Stern (poetry), Matthew Thorburn (poetry), Jennifer Tomaiolo (painting), Damon L. White (vocal performance).
We are honored to be able to share a little background information on the remarkably talented people who received BCA's BRIO Award this year.
Gloria Adams / painting
Gloria Adams grew up in northwestern Pennsylvania. She received a BA in Studio Art and Sociology from Oberlin College and completed an MFA in Painting at Maryland Institute College of Art, Hoffberger School of Painting where she studied with painter Grace Hartigan. Gloria has participated in Artist Residencies and has exhibited her work nationally and in Europe and Asia. She currently lives and works in the Bronx.
Cara Judea Alhadeff / photography
Cara Judea Alhadeff has exhibited and won awards internationally for her color photographs. Her exhibited work at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art continues to be part of their permanent collection. Her photographs have been publicly defended by Freedom of Speech organizations such as artsave/People for the American Way.
Dennis Redmoon Darkeem / craft
Dennis Redmoon Darkeem is a multimedia artist, crafter, photographer and performer who received his B.F.A. and M.A. in Art Direction. He is a Native American and Brazilian artist living in the Bronx. Tradition and customs have become the foundation for many of his pieces. Mr. Darkeem is a cultured and exposed artist. When not working on his own art, he teaches art at various schools in the Bronx and Manhattan area.
Marisol Diaz / photography
Marisol Díaz was born and raised in the Bronx. She received a B.A degree in photography from City College/CUNY (2002) and an A.A.S degree in Advertising Arts from Bronx Community College (1993). She is a recipient of two previous BRIO Awards in 2004 and again in 2007, the same year she received a Citation of Merit from The Bronx Borough President’s office. Her work has been exhibited in several galleries in NYC and Philadelphia and was commissioned by the George Eastman House in 2008.
Nicky Enright / experimental film/video
Nicky Enright is a multimedia artist and DJ with a B.F.A. from The Cooper Union and an M.F.A. from Hunter College. His work has been widely exhibited and he has executed numerous commissions for clients including the MTA Arts-for-Transit, and The Smithsonian Institution. Visit www.Lightbolt.net to learn more about Nicky and his art.
Michael Ferris Jr. / sculpture
Michael Ferris Jr. has received grants from the Illinois Arts Council, NYFA, Sugarman Foundation, Roswell Artist-in-Residence, and the Sharpe Space Program. Solo and group exhibitions include: George Adams Gallery, New York; ATM Gallery, New York; Stux Gallery, New York; Queens Museum, Flushing New York and the American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York.
Rosemarie Fiore / printmaking/drawing
Rosemarie Fiore has attended Yaddo, Skowhegan, and AIM. She received a NYFA, Sharpe Studio and Dieu Donne grants. Exhibitions include: Priska Juschka, NY; Grand Arts, Kansas City; Bronx Museum; Queens Museum; Socrates Sculpture Park. Reviews include: New York Times, New York Magazine, Art in America, Village Voice, NY Arts, FLAUNT Magazine, Art Papers and Art on Paper.
Nadia Hallgren / documentary film/video
Nadia Hallgren, a Bronx-born documentary filmmaker and cinematographer, was introduced to the trade as a teenager at the Bronx’s ICP at The POINT. She received her B.A. in Film and Media at Hunter College/CUNY. Her first documentary short was featured by African American Women in Cinema's Bronx seasonal screening series From there she met producer Tia Lessin at the Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance which landed Nadia with her first film job with Michael Moore on Fahrenheit 9/11. She has continued to shoot on several feature length documentaries and is currently directing short film documentaries for The Guardian UK.
Antonio Jerkovic / photography
Before moving to New York and committing to photography, Antonio was a documentary filmmaker and journalist in his native Croatia. His films have been shown in Athens, Bucharest, Rome and Zagreb Film Festivals. In 2008 he graduated from the City University of New York and is currently working on photo projects here and in Tokyo.
Kalissa Maxwell / photography
Born in the outskirts of Detroit, Kalissa Ortiz Maxwell claims the ghetto as her territory for photographic fine art explorations. Honoring individuals with her rich photographic eye, Kalissa has a B.F.A. in Photography from College for Creative Studies. Kalissa currently lives in the South Bronx where she exhibits her latest artwork, HyperGhetto.
Brandon McReynolds / vocal performance
One who "delivers considerable thrills" is how the New York Times describes young, American tenor Brandon McReynolds. He has most recently been seen on stage as a member of the Sarasota Opera Studio and il Conte d'Almaviva with Oklahoma University Opera. Upcoming engagements include il Duca di Mantua with Montana Lyric Opera and Alfredo with Volkstheater Rostock in Germany. He holds an Artist Diploma from The Juilliard School.
Vittorio Ottaviani / painting
Vittorio Ottaviani was born in Italy in 1974. An early love for the arts earned him a private apprenticeship in painting. He acquired his formal education via the Academy of Fine Arts of Rome. After his graduation in 1999, Ottaviani moved to the U.S. to expand his creative experience.
Maxim Pakhomov / instrumental performance
Maxim Pakhomov has toured England, Scotland, Austria and Estonia in both solo and chamber music concerts. He is a founding member of The Bronx Chamber Players and principal pianist of the Bronx Opera Company. Maxim received his first BRIO award in 2007. His solo performances with the Orchestra of the Bronx include piano concertos by Tschaikowsky, Saint-Saens, Brahams and Beethovan.
Desi Moreno-Penson / acting
Desi Moreno-Penson is a New York City-based playwright/performer who holds a Masters in Dramaturgy and Theatre Criticism from Brooklyn College. Her work has been produced at Urban Stages and The Cherry Lane, among others. Desi was a finalist for the 2007 Princess Grace Award and a two-time recipient of the BRIO Playwriting Fellowship, her play, Lazarus Disposed was produced last November at Perishable Theatre in Providence, RI. Her Devil Land, premiered at the 2007 Summer Play Festival and will soon be published by Broadway Play Publishing. She’s working on a new play, Ghost Light, and has been commissioned to write a one-man show about baseball player Roberto Clemente.
Antonio Polanco / vocal performance
Antonio Polanco is a Bronx-born Dominican who has loved music since childhood. He was a DJ in the 80s, began composing and producing music in the 90s, and now spends much time in the recording studio. Antonio holds a Computer Graphics Advertising Arts Associates Degree From Bronx Community College and an Audio Engineering Degree Form IAR(Institute of Audio Research). He considers himself a composer/ producer/ engineer/ sketch artist and lyrical content creator. He has composed and produced beats for “Rebel Diaz” mixed CD Vol. 2. and composed, produced and mixed the entire Waco Division “We All Can Overcome” Album.
Melissa Primavera / vocal performance
Noted for her "glowing" and "sumptuous" voice, Soprano Melissa Primavera has become a favorite with audiences in the greater New York City area. Highlights of Melissa’s operatic roles include works by Puccini (Magda,) Verdi (Nannetta), Offenbach (Antonia), and Mozart (Despina, Susanna.) Clich here to learn more about Melissa and hear her sing.
Geoffrey Quan / narrative film/video
Geoffrey Quan is an independent film director and producer, and a recent graduate of Columbia University’s MFA film program. His films have been nominated for two Student Academy Awards and have been shown internationally at over 50 festivals, including Sundance, Directors’ Fortnight (Cannes), New Directors/New Films, Clermont-Ferrand, SXSW, and Tribeca.
Sima Rabinowitz / fiction/non-fiction
Sima Rabinowitz is the author of a collection of poems (The Jewish Fake Book, Elixir Press, 2004) and a poetry chapbook (Murmuration, New Michigan Press, 2006). Her writing has appeared in Prairie Schooner, Tampa Review, Salamander, Hotel Amerika, Flyway, and many other publications. She was the 2007-2008 Writer-in-Residence at Yeshiva University Museum in New York City.
Stacey Robinson / playwriting
Stacey Karen Robinson is an actor, playwright, solo performer and Bronx native. Her works include: This Bright Flow, Wounded Heart, Deja and the January River and Quiet Frenzy. She received her BA from Brown University in Afro-American Studies and trained in the actor training program of the Juilliard School.
Teana Rodriguez / vocal performance
Teana ”Alkebulan” Rodriguez got her first big break with Paul Simon. She auditioned against hundreds of other girls and won a role in the original pre-production of Capeman. Her voice can be heard on the album Songs from the Capeman. In 1999 she began touring with C&C Music Factory and in 2006 her song Pride (in your soul) made it to number #32 on the Billboard Dance charts.
Jen Shyu / instrumental performance
Born in Illinois, from parents of East Timor and Taiwan, Jen Shyu is a multi-disciplinary performer/composer touring internationally with saxophonist/visionary Steve Coleman since 2003. She performs on his albums (Luciddarium & Weaving Symbolics). She produced her debut album “For Now” (2002) and her recent album, Jade Tongue (Chiuyen Music, 2008). Jen received her first BRIO award in 2007 and was awarded a MacDowell Fellowship for 2009.
Sarah Stern / poetry
Sarah Stern is a three-time BRIO poetry winner. Her poems have appeared in numerous publications, most recently in the anthology This Full Green Hour (Sonopo Press). She received honorable mentions from the Anna Davidson Rosenberg Awards and Lilith Magazine’s Poetry Prize. She is a press officer at The New School.
Matthew Thorburn / poetry
Matthew Thorburn is the author of Subject to Change and the recipient of a Witter Bynner Fellowship from the Library of Congress. His work has also appeared in Paris Review, Prairie Schooner and other journals. Currently, he’s working on a new book of poems set in China, Japan and Iceland.
Jennifer Tomaiolo / painting
Jennifer Tomaiolo received her B.F.A. from The School of Visual Arts and her M.F.A. from Brooklyn College/CUNY. She moved to NYC at age 18 and developed a love for the urban landscape, particularly the natural elements within the urban landscape. She likes to travel and experience the urban landscapes of other cities while taking advantage of their museum collections. This year she plans to take in the landscapes of Greece and Turkey.
Damon L. White / vocal performance
Damon L. White received his B.F.A. in dance from the California Institute of the Arts and his graduate degree in experimental performance at San Francisco’s Institute/New College. He is an interdisciplinary performing artist, (extended register singer). Videography, music production and writing muses his creativity. In addition to singing, he also works as a production manager and lights-sound technician who prefers the title, Renaissance Man/Artisan – “Ich bin Kunst.”
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2006 BRIO Winners |
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