Kuwento Mizik
Jean Bernard Cerin, baritone
Veena Kulkarni-Rankin, piano

2022 Musical Fund Society Career Advancement Award winner Jean Bernard Cerin is a multifaceted artist and scholar who produces and performs in projects ranging from film, recital, oratorio, traditional storytelling, opera, and folk music. Last season, he directed and starred in the documentary Lisette (2022), which made its premier at the Berkeley Early Music Festival in California. His crossover piano-vocal duo, Kuwento Mizik, released its freshman album “Lua Nova” in August 2022. This program of folk songs and pop tunes from around the world celebrates the interweaving communities and musical cultures that have shaped the duo’s ongoing collaboration.

Praised for his “burnished tone and focused phrasing” (Chestnut Hill Local), Jean Bernard performs extensively with leading early music ensembles across the United States including Philadelphia based Choral Arts, Piffaro Renaissance Wind Ensemble, Tempesta di Mare Baroque Orchestra, Night Music, Gamut Bach Ensemble, Louisville’s Bourbon Baroque, Classical Uncorked in Seattle, and American Bach Soloists in San Francisco. He recently returned to Philadelphia to perform Bach’s Peasant Cantata with Choral Arts Philadelphia and soprano Julianne Baird. He also makes his Cleveland debut in a Bach inspired Advent program with Les Delices.

In 2021, Jean  Bernard won “Best Performance of a Folk Song” in the Canto Latino Cyber challenge. In 2018, he was awarded the Gerard Souzay Prize for best performance of a French Mélodie at the Joy in Singing International Song Competition. Since last season, Jean Bernard has been presenting a program that centers the oldest song in Haitian Creole, “Lisette quitté la plaine” often in conjunction with his documentary Lisette (2022). He has presented this program at Cornell University, Bucknell University, Princeton University, the Elm City Consort in New Haven, and the GEMAS early music series in New York City.

On the operatic stage, Jean Bernard has portrayed villains, buffoons, and heroes with the Aspen Opera Theater Center, Brevard’s Janiec Opera Company, Center City Opera Theater in Philadelphia, and Opera Philadelphia, among others. This season, he makes his debut with Opera Ithaca and Raylynmor opera singing John Styx in a co-production of Orpheus in the Underworld. Past roles include Mozart’s Don Giovanni and Papageno as well as Benjamin Britten’s Tarquinius from The Rape of Lucretia.
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Veena Kulkarni-Rankin was born and raised in the US Midwest and began her piano studies at the age of five. She won many youth competitions, studied at Indiana University, and then earned a doctorate in Piano Pedagogy and Performance at the University of Michigan. Finding great fulfillment in teaching, she is currently the Lead Instructor at Faber Piano Institute. She has also taught at Madonna University and at the University of Windsor. In 2011, Veena won the Best Liszt Interpretation prize at the Liszt-Garrison International Piano Competition and gave two East Coast premieres. Over the years, as a lover of all types of music, she has branched off into other styles of playing, many that fuse improvisation with composed-out music. Most notable is her partnership with baritone Jean Bernard Cerin. Their concerts feature folk and art music, storytelling, and social justice issues from the United States, Haiti, South America, the Philippines, India, European cultures, and beyond. A second generation American, Veena loves connecting with and learning more about her Filipino and Indian roots.

Crossover classical duo baritone Jean Bernard Cerin and pianist Veena K. Kulkarni-Rankin fuse classical and world music with storytelling into transformative concert experiences.  With Indian-Filipino-American and Haitian backgrounds, Veena and Jean Bernard synthesize their broad cultural heritage with western classical training.  Kuwento (KWEN-toh), Filipino for “story” and Mizik (mi-ZEEK), Haitian Creole for “music” capture exactly what they do:  art songs, popular songs, stories and folksongs from around the world, contemporary classical music, and Kuwento Mizik’s own original work all have a spotlight.  With colorful and inclusive programs, Kuwento Mizik fosters intercultural appreciation.  Themes ranging from nature, magic and love to history bring evocative and memorable music to audiences of all backgrounds.

​Pivoting for the pandemic, Kuwento Mizik put on a virtual recital as part of the Live from the Stone Chalet series in March 2021. That same month, the duo won Best Performance of a Folk Song in the 2021 Canto Latino Virtual Song Competition. They regularly collaborate with percussionist John Churchville and will release their first album, Lua Nova (New Moon), also with Churchville, in 2022. 

​Formerly known as a Duo 1717, Kuwento Mizik has performed at the Detroit Institute of Arts and The Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC.  Based in Michigan and Pennsylvania, Kuwento Mizik has performed throughout the Philadelphia area, including Andrea Clearfield’s Salon, David Hartt’s Live Activation Series at historic Beth Sholom Synagogue and Lincoln University.  Other northeast concerts include the Sparks & Wiry Cries series in Brooklyn, the Haddonfield Center & School for the Performing Arts, and the Foulkeways retirement community.  Kuwento Mizik’s Midwest performances include the Detroit Institute of the Arts, the LOFT Recital Series in Minneapolis, and the Stroede Center for the Arts (Defiance, OH). Their many performances in Ann Arbor, MI include the Ann Arbor Summer Festival, Kerrytown Concert House, and the Faculty Women’s Club of the University of Michigan.  Community outreach includes concerts at the Hands-On Museum, Community Action Network, and All Seasons in Ann Arbor.  Kuwento Mizik is proud to be on the roster of Great Lakes Performing Artist Associates.