Project In Brief

  • Flame Keepers is a live-streaming sonic art installation that weaves together multiple streams of music into unexpected, evolving combinations.

  • The installation was conceived by composer Jakub Ciupinski and developed by Avneesh Sarwate and Ryan Rose.

  • Since launching February 2021, Metropolis has commissioned 100+ composers who have created over 3,000 stems to date.

 
Impact by the Numbers

100+

artists commissioned since 2021

3,000+

7-hour musical stems created to date

49

hours for an artist to swap the streams

34

weeks on autopilot from July 2022—March 2023

10,000

lines of code for the installation
 
 

Commissioning Project

April 2020—February 2021
  • In response to the pandemic, Metropolis commissioned composer Jakub Ciupinski's concept and design. Developers Avneesh Sarwate and Ryan Rose built the installation over ten months.
  • Since February 2021, invited artists are commissioned weekly, tasked with supplying new original material every seven hours for an open-ended collective composition designed to run uninterrupted in real-time.
 
 

Flame Keepers 100

October 2023
  • Metropolis celebrated the 100th commission for Flame Keepers, Chatterbox, the Brooklyn pop vocal trio Jolee Gordon/Priya Carlberg/Isabel Crespo Pardo.
  • The installation features a tool called FlashBack, allowing users to travel back in time to experience any past Flame Keeper’s work.
 
 

Album Release

February 2022
  • One year after the launch of Flame Keepers, composer Jakub Ciupinski released a track featuring a one-week example of the Flame Keepers process.
  • The album features Jakub’s own contributions to the project as the first commissioned contributor.
 
 
 

More Projects

Take an in-depth look at Metropolis Ensemble projects over the years.