King Midas and the Golden Touch

METROPOLIS ENSEMBLE'S YOUTH WORKS PRESENTS

An evening of new music entirely conceived, composed, and produced by gifted teenage composers.

In collaboration with ComposerCraft*
with special guest narrator, the Tony Award-nominated actor Paul Hecht

Wednesday, May 30, 2018
1 Rivington Street / 2nd Floor (Buzzer #1) / New York, NY
7:30pm (doors) / 8:00pm (event)
Tickets: General $10 / Students FREE

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Metropolis Ensemble’s education program Youth Works and The Kaufman Music Center’s ComposerCraft* join hands to give teenage composers the extraordinary opportunity to create an original concert experience, from developing program notes and marketing texts to writing the actual music itself, performed by Metropolis Ensemble’s world-class musicians.

In King Midas and the Golden Touch, composers Felix Bransbourg, Isaac Lageschulte, Ella Vermut, Owen Woolford, Danielle Wu, Philina Zhang, and Marina Zurita McKinnon edit Nathanial Hawthorne's version of the classic Greek myth, creating and composing an original new dramatic portrayal for trio bassoon (Brad Balliett), guitar (Jordan Dodson), cello (Sujin Lee) and narrator (Paul Hecht).

World Premiere & Metropolis Ensemble Commission

About ComposerCraft:

ComposerCraft, now in its seventh year, is a program for composers ages 11-15 at Kaufman Music Center, created and directed by composer Robinson McClellan. These composers' musical imagination ranges widely, from klezmer-dubstep remixes to electronic experiments to fugues, operas, and symphonies. ComposerCraft composers engage in a yearly collaboration with Metropolis Ensemble at venues like (Le) Poisson Rouge, Merkin Concert Hall, and Symphony Space.

About Metropolis Ensemble’s Youth Works:

In addition to our concert activities, Metropolis Ensemble is equally dedicated to making a difference in its local community via its education program for underserved children called Youth Works. The program reaches over 400 middle school students across Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx through innovative partnerships with organizations such as the Young Composers & Improviser’s Workshop, TEAK, and ComposerCraft to teach music composition and perform student works.

NARRATOR

Narrator King Midas

PAUL HECHT / NARRATOR

Paul Hecht made his debut as the Player in Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead (Tony nomination 1968).Other Broadway appearances include : Night & Day with Maggie Smith andInvention of Love. (Tom Stoppard)… READ MORE

COMPOSERS

Featured

Isaac Lageschulte

Isaac Lageschulte is 12 and is in seventh grade at Special Music School Middle School. He has been composing for five years and has played violin since he was three years old. Some pieces that he has composed include a duet for viola and clarinet, a sonata for flute and piano, and a twelve-movement Symphony.

Ella Vermut

Ella Vermut is 12 and is a seventh grader at Hunter College High School. She has been playing the violin for almost eight years and has been composing for two years. In the past, she has performed in a production of Into the Woods Jr. at Anderson Middle School. She wants to thank her parents for encouraging her aspirations to compose.

Featured

Owen Woolford

Owen Woolford is a sixth grader at Hunter College Elementary School. He has been studying and playing piano for five years, cello for four years and clarinet for three years. He also studied music theory at Lucy Moses School for two years. Owen is a member of his school jazz band (piano) and loves to hike!

Danielle Wu

Danielle Wu is 14 and is in ninth grade at LaGuardia High School. She has studied piano since age three, flute since age eight, and began to compose music at age eight. Danielle is also a student at the Juilliard School’s MAP studying Composition. She received Honorable Mention in the 2017 Luna Composition Lab and is a three-time Finalist (2016-2018) for the ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Awards.

Philina Zhang

Philina Zhang is in the fifth grade at Special Music School, studying piano with Ms. Irina Morozova. Philina is the winner of multiple awards in top international piano competitions. Starting composing at the age of 8, she was awarded the Emerging Composer status at the 2017 Tribeca New Music Young Composer Competition.

Marina Zurita McKinnon

Marina Zurita McKinnon is an eighth grader who has played piano and classical guitar since she was five. When she was ten, she composed a piece that was performed by the Momenta Quartet. Three of her other compositions were performed, including a three-movement piece for piano and cello commissioned by Face The Music. This year, she worked on a piece with Conrad Tao, which was performed at Roulette. She wants to compose for larger ensembles and collaborate with people who love to make new music.