This is part of our composer series on Ryan Francis. In this post, Ryan discusses his new piano etudes, featured in Metropolis Ensemble's upcoming concert Digital Sustain.

Since Frédéric Chopin, the genre of piano etudes transformed from their intention as studies towards improving one's pianism to unfettered exemplars of imagination and virtuosity that pushed piano technique to the limits. In the last century, Conlon Nancarrow removed the performer from the form, composing the first pre-electronic pieces for player piano that are physically impossible for any human to perform. Ryan has used the current version of piano player rolls – MIDI maps – to expand human piano technique in his etudes.



Music credits: Frédéric Chopin, Etude #1 in C, Op. 10, Maurizio Pollini piano; Deutsche Grammophon: B000001G5H. Ryan Francis, "Digitial Sustain" for Piano, (MIDI rendering). Conlon Nancarrow's Etude No. 1; player piano. Ryan Francis, "Harlequin" for Piano, (MIDI rendering). Special thanks to Ania Dabrowski.

Labels: composerseries, digitalsustain, ryanfrancis

This is part of our composer series on Ryan Francis. In this post, Ryan talks with Metropolis Ensemble's Artistic Director, Andrew Cyr, about his compositional background.

Conceptual inspiration abounds in the music of composer Ryan Francis. Although Maurice Ravel and Gyorgi Ligeti are not two names you normally hear uttered in the same breath together both share an intellectual playfulness and compositional intrepidity that Ryan identifies with.

An example of Ryan's playfulness and engagement with new materials and ideas is his orchestral White Deep Blue, which opens with an exact acoustical rearrangement of the '90s electronic hit Pearl's Girl by Underworld and continues into his own compositional flourish.

The visual arts also translate into Ryan's music on both abstract and more literal levels – one example being the reinterpretation of Joan Miro's canvas Woman Bird and Star into an eponymous musical piece.



Music credits: Maurice Ravel, Trois poèmes de Stéphane Mallarmé "Soupir", Dawn Upshaw, soprano; Nonesuch: B000005J0T. Gyorgy Ligeti, Violin Concerto, InterContemporain Ensemble, Saschko Gawriloff, violin, Pierre Boulez conductor; Deutsche Grammophon: B000001GLN. Underworld, "Pearl's Girl"; Tvt: B000003RJN. Ryan Francis "White Deep Blue", The Juilliard Orchestra. Ryan Francis "Woman Bird and Star", The Juilliard Orchestra. Special thanks to Ania Dabrowski.

Labels: composerseries, digitalsustain, ryanfrancis

Metropolis Ensemble and Artistic Director/Conductor Andrew Cyr are delighted to announce two new concerts for 2008:

LOOP
Thursday, April 10, 2008 (8pm)
The Times Center (620 8th Avenue at 41st Street)
Tickets: $20 online / $25 at the door
Buy tickets now...

The World Premiere performance of Piano Concerto by Wet Ink Composer Resident Ryan Francis featuring pianist Anna Polonsky. Also on the program, three 20th Century masterpieces: Ravel's Trois Poèmes de Stéphane Mallarmé, Salonen's Five Images from Sappho with soprano Kiera Duffy, and Satie's Sports et Divertissements, arranged by David Bruce. Wine reception during intermission.

Digital Sustain: Six Etudes for Piano by Ryan Francis
Saturday, March 8, 2008 (2pm)
Chelsea Art Museum (556 W 22nd Street)
Tickets: $20 online / at the door
Buy tickets now...

The World Premiere performance of ETUDES for Piano by Ryan Francis featuring pianists Vicky Chow, Michael Shinn, and Daniel Spiegel. Presented in tandem with etudes from Ligeti, Bolcom, Chopin, and Liszt. This special concert is a preview of Ryan Francis' spring concert premiere, Piano Concerto.

Labels: andrewcyr, digitalsustain, ensemblenews, loop, ryanfrancis