Episode 113 — May 18, 2021
João Luiz: “Sereno” for guitar
Performed by João Luiz

Guitarist João Luiz Rezende Lopes often writes music to be played by instruments that aren’t his own. But as he composed a new suite, he was curious what it would sound like on guitar, and became excited to learn and play the music he’d written. For this House Music series video, he plays the second movement from the five movement suite, titled Sereno (“serene”), which is a wonderful representation of his compositional style as a whole. This intimate House Music series video was recorded from his home in Brooklyn.  

Rezende Lopes has been collaborating with Metropolis Ensemble since 2017, and feels that each performance with the group has been special. His most memorable moments with Metropolis came when he got to premiere new works with the ensemble, though. In January 2020, Metropolis presented his harp and guitar concerto, 7 Meetings, with harpist Bridget Kibbey, and Metropolis also supported the New York premiere of his harp piece, Recife. More recently, he curated a playlist, João’s Beats, for Metropolis, which features a diverse array of his favorite pieces from different countries and eras.

Notes by Vanessa Ague

 
House Music: Bite-sized concerts recorded at homes around the world

In 2020-21, we created a weekly video series featuring short-form concerts of newly-commissioned works, supporting 208 artists around the world during the pandemic.