The New York Times, Sequenza 21, Broadway World, Observer, and more review our production of In A Grove at Prototype Festival.
“With a foundation of ambient sound and vocal writing that underlines the most important moments with plangent harmonies, this is often mesmerising. The variations grow more meaningful and tragic as they pass, and the effect grows hypnotic.”
“Christopher Cerrone’s melodic material was memorable without being trite… I was very much captivated by this powerful drama and its excellent performance.”
“For this production, the outstanding Metropolis Ensemble was tucked away not in an orchestra pit but in a loft above the entrance to the hall… There was an almost cinematic quality to the dramatically pointed timbral effects of the orchestration, and each of them hit its mark.”
“You could not have asked for better performers… In a Grove is a triumph and among the finest works at this year’s festival.”
“Singers Paul Appleby, Mikaela Bennett, John Brancy, and Chuanyuan Liu were sensational; so, too, was the Metropolis Ensemble, effectively and excitingly led by Raquel Acevedo Klein.”
“Cerrone’s tonal music has a hypnotic, fluid quality to it that varies from scene to scene, from one role to another, matched superbly by the storytelling of Fleischmann… The instrumental work of the Metropolis Ensemble under conductor Luke Poeppel couldn’t have been better.”
“Stylized yet sensual… the highlight of the festival was Christopher Cerrone’s “In a Grove,” a haunting psychological thriller with a libretto by Stephanie Fleischmann.”
The New York Times, Gramophone, and NPR celebrate The Blind Banister in their "Best of 2024" lists.
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This week at Flame Keepers, the installation has been intentionally left “abandoned” with no composers maintaining the audio stems. When this happens, the system engages a fail-safe algorithm that replaces any one of the streams with one randomly selected from the historical archive of musical streams of all previous Flame Keepers. The results might be harmonious, cacophonous, anodyne, or expressive, yet always surprising. During this time, the composition will evolve continuously with unpredictable results until the next composer takes over in a following week.
Travel back in time to experience any Flame Keeper's work. The most recent artists are at the bottom of this page.
About the Artist
Andrés Guadarrama (Ciudad de México, 1991) es musicaminante. Tras pausar la composición, actualmente desarrolla una práctica indisciplinar errante que especula y vincula cosmoaudiciones, experiencias místicas, peregrinaje y ritualidad.
Como músico, sus composiciones se han presentado en distintos países de América, Europa y Asia, en festivales como Donaueschinger Musiktage, New Music on the Point, NUNC! 4, The 21st Century Guitar Conference, Forum Wallis, Foro Internacional de Música Nueva Manuel Enríquez, entre otros.
Fue beneficiario de la FONCA Jóvenes Creadores 2017-2018. En 2016 representó a México en la 63va Tribuna Internacional de Compositores de la UNESCO en Wrocław, Polonia.
Andrés forma parte del Programa Educativo SOMA, generación 2025. Previamente estudió composición y teoría musical en el Centro de Investigación y Estudios de la Música (CIEM), y de manera privada con los compositores Germán Romero y Samuel Cedillo.
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Andrés Guadarrama (Mexico City, 1991) is a "musicaminante" (portmanteau of "músico" + "caminante", spanish for musician and walker-wanderer). Currently he decided to pause composition to develop a wandering indisciplinary practice that speculates and links cosmoauditions, mystical experiences, pilgrimage and rituality.
As a musician, his compositions have been presented in different countries of America, Europe and Asia, in festivals such as Donaueschinger Musiktage, New Music on the Point, NUNC! 4, The 21st Century Guitar Conference, Forum Wallis, Jornadas de Música Contemporánea CCMC, Foro Internacional de Música Nueva Manuel Enríquez, among others.
He was a recipient of the FONCA Jóvenes Creadores 2017-2018 grant. In 2016 he represented Mexico at the 63rd UNESCO International Rostrum of Composers in Wrocław, Poland.
Andrés is part of the SOMA Educational Program, generation 2025. He previously studied composition and music theory at the Centro de Investigación y Estudios de la Música (CIEM), and privately with composers Germán Romero and Samuel Cedillo.
“Ricardo Romaneiro’s audiovisual symphony LIQUIDVERSE: Microcosm & Macrocosm has joined Cosm’s collection of critically acclaimed and unique immersive productions.”
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About the Artist
Greg Boro is a Brooklyn based Composer, Curator and Performer. His work explores all forms of incidental music from scoring for film, performing cocktail piano and DJing ambient sets. He has worked with Complex Media, CNN International, 826 National and countless independent artists.
Travel back in time to experience any Flame Keeper's work. The most recent artists are at the bottom of this page.
About the Artist
Athena Zenker Díaz es una artista sonora e interdisciplinaria nacida en Ciudad de México. Sus intereses oscilan entre la música antigua, la electrónica experimental y proyectos interdisciplinarios, desdibujando los límites entre tradición y vanguardia. Entre México y Alemania, Athena participa regularmente en diversos ensambles que buscan dirigir la atención a la experiencia social en el arte, repensando desde la percepción las relaciones que tejemos en la alteridad.
Actualmente, desde su residencia en Leipzig, Athena transita la vivencia en diáspora desde el sonido.
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Athena Zenker Díaz is a sound and interdisciplinary artist born in Mexico City. Her interests range from early music to experimental electronics and interdisciplinary projects, blurring the boundaries between tradition and avant-garde. Between Mexico and Germany, Athena regularly participates in various ensembles that aim to focus attention on the social experience in art, rethinking through perception the relationships we weave in otherness.
Currently, from her residence in Leipzig, Athena navigates the experience of diaspora through sound.
Travel back in time to experience any Flame Keeper's work. The most recent artists are at the bottom of this page.
About the Artist
Nigel Newton is a vibraphonist, composer, producer, and arranger living in Dallas, Texas. He has garnered a number of composition awards, and currently tours with a number of bands around the U.S. and Canada. His music is heavily influenced by late-90’s video games, chamber music, 70’s funk and soul, jazz, post-modern and classic science fiction literature, and the occasional kale salad.
“Cosm Dallas also has numerous immersive art events Orbital and Liquidverse.”
“A completely different orchestral arrangement. Really massive, really powerful sounding stuff.”
“Liquidverse: Microcosm & Macrocosm is Ricardo Romaneiro‘s psychedelic exploration of miniature chemical reactions.”
Travel back in time to experience any Flame Keeper's work. The most recent artists are at the bottom of this page.
About the Artist
Compositor, improvisador, diseñador sonoro y contrabajista mexicano, Arturo Capur escribe música para contrabajo y electrónica, así como música de cámara. Sus composiciones han sido interpretadas en lugares como la Biblioteca Vasconcelos, el Foro de Música Nueva (Ciudad de México), la Universidad DePaul (Chicago), el Auditorio Blas Galindo y New Music on the Point. Ha participado en talleres con conjuntos y músicos como el Quinteto de Vientos de la Ciudad de México, Wapiti Ensemble, Irvine Arditti, JACK Quartet y el ensemble de música creativa dirigido por Dana Jessen en New Music on the Point 2023.
La banda sonora del documental 'Raíces' se lanzó a finales de 2021. "Cuando no está pasando mucho todo lo que sucede importa" es una pieza para contrabajo y electrónica lanzada en 2022. Además, "Jardín de Piedras" es un video de 30 minutos con improvisaciones yuxtapuestas grabadas en el jardín de rocas en Mexiquillo, Durango, también lanzado en 2022. "Mutualismo" es una pieza para ensemble de cuerdas y solista diseñada para un edificio específico en la Ciudad de México, donde el ensemble está distribuido en tres niveles y cada módulo improvisatorio se activa cuando dos jugadores adicionales tiran de cintas VHS sujetas a cada cuerda. Es exalumno de OneBeat Virtual 5.
Travel back in time to experience any Flame Keeper's work. The most recent artists are at the bottom of this page.
About the Artist
Sean Stover is a musician based in Brooklyn, NY. His sample heavy approach, combined with his love of music from all over the world, results in an all-genre collage of his favorite sounds, harmonies, and rhythms. He currently serves as a high school music teacher, working to educate and inspire the next generation of young musicians.