Intersection
Liz Gerring
Liz Gerring was born in San Francisco in 1965 and grew up in Los Angeles where she began studying dance at age 13. Ms. Gerring studied at the Cornish Institute in Seattle, and in 1987 she received a BFA from the Juilliard School. She formed the Liz Gerring Dance Company in 1998 and has been presenting her work in New York City and abroad continuously since that time. Ms. Gerring was awarded the Jacob’s Pillow prize in June 2015 and a Joyce Theater Residency the same year. Between 2013–18, Ms. Gerring was commissioned for three works in collaboration with composer Michael J. Schumacher for Peak Performances at the Kasser Theater in Montclair NJ. In 2017–18 she was awarded a City Center Choreographic Fellowship and in 2019 Ms. Gerring was one of five artists to receive the Cage Cunningham Fellowship from the Baryshnikov Arts Center. Ms. Gerring has been on the faculty of Groove With Me, an after school dance program for girls, since 2018. She lives in New York City and upstate NY with her husband, Kirk Radke, and their dog and cat; she also has three adult children.
Michael J. Schumacher
Based in Brooklyn, Michael J. Schumacher has innovated in spatialized sound and algorithmic composition since the 1980s. He creates multi channel, generative Room Pieces that have been presented in galleries, museums, concert halls, and public and private environments. XI Records has released a DVD set of five of these installations as computer applications, and his Living Room Pieces is a generative installation designed for home listening. His Portable Multi channel Sound System is a complete immersive environment that fits in a suitcase, a project he has toured through Europe, Japan, and the United States.
Schumacher’s compositions have been presented at GRM in Paris, Roulette, Issue Project Room, Artists Space, Ostrava Music Days, Transmediale, the MCA Lyon, the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, Klangraum Krems, and the Dream House. His music has been published by Superpang, XI Records, Sub Rosa, Entr’acte, Quecksilber, and Sedimental. He is a recipient of the FCA award and grants from NYSCA, the Rockefeller Foundation, NYFA, and DAAD.
He is the music director of the Liz Gerring Dance Company and an adjunct professor at NYU’s Steinhardt and Tandon schools and at Ramapo College in New Jersey. Schumacher studied composition with Stanley Applebaum, Bernhard Heiden, John Eaton, and Vincent Persichetti, and studied piano with Seymour Bernstein, John Ogdon, and Shigeo Neriki. He holds degrees from Indiana University and Juilliard.
Orfeas Skutelis
Orfeas Skutelis is a cinematographer, media artist, and educator based in Brooklyn. Born in Novi Sad in the former Yugoslavia, he earned a degree in cinematography from the Academy of Arts before completing an MA in Media Studies at The New School. His cinematography credits include the documentaries Logbook Serbistan, Wanderlust, When Pigs Come, Operation Bulkes, and Birdless, works that reflect an ongoing interest in complex sociopolitical landscapes.
In the 2000s Skutelis was an active member of New Media Center kuda dot org in Novi Sad, contributing original audiovisual work and documenting performances, exhibitions, and lectures as part of a collaborative artistic community. His practice employed emerging technologies and experimental methods and included engagements with McKenzie Wark, Armin Medosh, WHW Collective, Bureau d’Etudes, Critical Art Ensemble, and Želimir Žilnik.
Since 2019 he has served as Technical Director of the Bosnian Herzegovinian Film Festival in New York, supporting the visibility of Southeast European cinema. He teaches part time at Parsons School of Design in the documentary production and cinematography programs. His recent collaborative work spans theater, dance, exhibitions, and music videos, including projects with the Wooster Group, Gerring Dance, and BAM. Across disciplines he maintains a human centered approach to contemporary documentary storytelling.
