Under a star-covered ceiling at the Orensanz Center on the Lower East Side in 2006, Metropolis Ensemble made its celebratory debut with the music of Copland, Britten, and Schiff. And so begin an unexpected and inventive adventure on the NYC music scene.
“The Mandolin Concerto itself is one of the most adventurous works Dorman has yet composed. Its explorations of many timbres, orchestral effects, and myriad shifts of tempo & demeanor make it a dazzlingly mercurial and potent essay.”
May 2007
It all started with a tremolo on mandolin.
In May 2007, Metropolis Ensemble presented the U.S. premiere of Israeli composer Avner Dorman’s vibrant, genre-bending Mandolin Concerto, written for mandolinist Avi Avital and string ensemble.
Little did anyone know, that over the next three years, this remarkable work would take the spotlight in Metropolis’ first studio album of Dorman’s concerti and earn Grammy nominations for the recording, including Avi Avital’s solo performance, conductor Andrew Cyr with Metropolis Ensemble, and producer David Frost.
These accolades proved a launchpad for Avi Avital’s music career with concerto solo performances with major orchestras, including the BBC Symphony, Deutsche Symphony, and Chicago Symphony, award-winning studio albums, and a staple presence at festivals around the world, including Aspen, Salzburg, and Tanglewood.
July 2008
A riot of sound. A revolutionary remix.
Early in the story of Metropolis, the orchestra sought to upend the traditional notions of the classical music and new music experience. From excitingly informal and surprising venues, such as a nightclub or former record shop, to the infusion of epic technological feats, seemingly more at home in electronica and pop concerts… Metropolis is rooted in the living art-form of music that is of and for the time we live in.
The Rite: Remixed, conceived by genre-bending composers Ricardo Romaneiro and Ryan Francis, and engineer Leo Leite, brought this core belief to center stage as Stravinsky's epic, future-forward work was transformed into a ground-breaking live remix nearly a century after the original masterpiece took Paris by storm.
The weekend-long series of sold-out shows — part of the Wordless Music Series — included hyper-kinetic performances by soprano Hila Plitmann, minimal tech house by DJ THREE, and a night under the stars at Celebrate Brooklyn with indie sensation Deerhoof in front of an audience of 10,000.
“Sounds from the acoustic musicians were torn apart in real time by laptops, adding riotous new sounds to the already manic piece.”
Ricardo Romaneiro
Ricardo continues to collaborate with Metropolis Ensemble on inventive projects, including Hallucinations (“a blissful and compelling mix of Minimalist-derived rhythmic ecstasy and nightclub beats” —The New York Times), Brownstone, Scar Arias, A Christmas Carol, and Music Box.
Ryan Francis
From his early work with Metropolis on LOOP to his more recent collaborations with William Brittle, Conor Hanick, David Kaplan, and Free Assembly, Ryan has gone on to receive commissions from the likes of Banff Centre of Canada, American Composers Orchestra, and New York Youth Symphony.
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Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, ex mel iudico prompta delectus, rebum graece saperet ea ius. Te nibh docendi mea, veritus offendit copiosae te mei. Ex tollit erroribus quo. Vel tale tibique id, mei no dico nonumes insolens. Vix eu vide fuisset democritum, ea quo equidem civibus adolescens. Pri te iusto dicant ridens, prompta persecuti cum ei.
Concerts 2006–2010
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