House Music

Bite-sized concerts recorded at homes around the world

During the pandemic, Metropolis Ensemble shifted from in-person projects to fully online programming. Our weekly House Music video series provided artists the opportunity to develop original works, record from home, and share new music with fans everywhere.

208

musicians and composers employed

44.5K

views on web and social media

122

episodes recorded and released weekly

43

cities around the world and across 18 states

7

countries including Japan, Israel, Korea, Canada, New Zealand, Lebanon, and USA

In 2020-21, we created a weekly video series featuring short-form concerts of newly-commissioned works, all filmed by Metropolis artists around the world. We supported 208 artists directly through this project during the pandemic.

A generous constellation of donors, foundations, and our board, facilitating much-needed artist support to the provide employment for the highest number of musicians and composers in Metropolis history.

About the Project

In 2020-21, our House Music series gave emerging professional composers and musicians the opportunity to film their own performance in the most captivating, thrilling way they could from home, given the creative constraints of the pandemic’s socially-distanced reality.

The series encouraged Metropolis artists to collaborate with composers in the commissioning process to shape and premiere an entirely new work. This virtual concert and commissioning series supported and connected our artist community over challenging times, and inspired audiences to engage with new music.

In September 2020, the Metropolis team wrote:

“No matter where we're in quarantine, there's new music collaboration happening: from Harlem to Sunnyside, San Antonio to Maine, Pittsburgh to Arizona, Chicago to Sanford, and Japan to Israel.

While this difficult time is so different from what we have ever experienced, what we do at the core of Metropolis remains the same. We support our artists and their creative process, ask them to make new work, and seek audiences to engage with them.

House Music is a reflection of our role and responsibility with the living musicians and composers in our community, to protect the marriage between audience and artist. Everyone is living in a time of pause. Engaging in something new reminds us all of the power of imagination.”

Support Our Artists

Metropolis Ensemble supports outstanding performers and composers through the creation of new work.

All House Music performers and composers were paid for their work. During the pandemic, we created new opportunities for our artists to do what they do best: make and share new music with you. Your donation ensures we can continue to support our artist community.