Metropolis Ensemble and Brooklyn Botanic Garden Present Biophony: SoundGarden

Brooklyn, New York— Brooklyn Botanic Garden and Metropolis Ensemble today announced “Biophony: SoundGarden,” an immersive soundbath experience created by composer Ricardo Romaneiro for Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s conservatories. The installation includes an audiovisual tapestry (sound design by Leo Leite) and lighting installation (light design by Dominic Chang) running in-sync with plant-generated binaural soundscapes and groupings of live musicians situated in each of the conservatory ecosystems. Seventeen Metropolis composers/performers collaborated with Romaneiro to develop graphic scores within a larger compositional structure, while also working alongside gardeners and curators to develop this site-specific co-commissioning project by Metropolis and Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

“Biophony: SoundGarden” will be open to the public on February 11 and 12, 2023 from 10:30 a.m.–3 p.m. with an ongoing audiovisual experience with plant-generated and interactive musical elements. In addition, there will be hourly live concurrent performances in each conservatory pavilion at 10:30am, 11:30 a.m, 1:30 p.m., and 2:30 p.m. both days. Visiting Biophony: SoundGarden is free with Garden admission. Visit bbg.org/biophony for tickets and more information.

The installation includes:

An immersive audio and light display with performances featuring gongs, harp, electric cello, synthesizers, and electronics in a space that is transformed into four color chambers where visitors can sit or lie down to improve their mental, physical, and spiritual well-being.
An ambient soundscape in the Tropical Pavilion featuring trombones, where visitors’ “alpha” brainwaves will be stimulated to evoke a sense of relaxation and reflection.
A melodic soundscape in the Desert Pavilion featuring double basses on drones and pedals, where visitors’ “beta” brainwaves will be stimulated to evoke a sense of conscious focus and concentration.
A cooling soundscape in the Warm Temperate Pavilion featuring contra alto clarinet, strings, and voice, where visitors’ “alpha” brainwaves will be stimulated to evoke a sense of comfort and meditation.
A relaxing soundscape in the Bonsai Museum featuring flutes and gayageum (a traditional Korean plucked zither), where visitors’ “delta” brainwaves will be stimulated to evoke a sense of deep sleep and sonic healing.
An evocative soundscape in the Aquatic House featuring synths, violin with pedals, and voice, where visitors’ “theta” and “gamma” brainwaves will be stimulated to evoke a sense of floating, dreaming, imagination, creativity, and a flow state.
A family-friendly, hands-on interactive sound experience on the Trail of Plant Evolution in the Conservatory Entry Garden where kids can interact with plants wired to sensors and speakers to explore how physical touch changes the tonality of plants, allowing kids to create their own “living” composition.

More details about the project:
metropolisensemble.org/soundgarden

Featured artists and their locations in the installation:

The Well

Mélanie Genin, harp
Samer Ghadry, gong installation
Topu Lyo, electric cello
Ricardo Romaneiro, synthesizers and electronics

Tropical Pavilion

Zekkereya El-Magharbel, trombone
Kalun Leung, trombone
Caleb Smith, trombone

Desert Pavilion

Eleonore Oppenheim, double bass
Evan Runyon, double bass

Bonsai Museum

DoYeon Kim, gayageum
David Leon, flute
Matthew Evan Taylor, flute

Aquatic House

Lauren Cauley, violin
Erika Dohi, synths
Sara Serpa, voice

Warm Temperate Pavilion

Joanna Mattrey, strings
Hannah Sumner, voice
Yuma Uesaka, contra alto clarinet

“Biophony: SoundGarden” is the fourth collaboration between Brooklyn Botanic Garden and Metropolis Ensemble; previous projects include performances during the “For the Birds” opening celebration in June 2022 and “Biophony Festival,” an outdoor musical adventure across the 52-acre gardens, in both May 2022 and September 2021. The four-year partnership between Brooklyn Botanic Garden and Metropolis Ensemble will culminate with a final performance in summer 2024.

About Ricardo Romaneiro

Brazilian-born composer and Juilliard graduate, Ricardo Romaneiro, synthesizes classical and electronic music. He previously created “The Rite: Remixed,” a Metropolis commissioned work performed at Celebrate Brooklyn! in 2008 and “Brownstone,” a 360-degree composition performed at American Irish Historical Society in 2016. Romaneiro is co-founder of Subhaze, an audiovisual studio creating immersive concert installations that transcend the traditional performance experience.

About Andrew Cyr

Grammy-nominated conductor and artistic director, Andrew Cyr, founded Metropolis in 2006 to create new platforms for outstanding composers and performing artists. He has led premieres at Brooklyn Academy of Music, Celebrate Brooklyn!, Radio City Music Hall, Kimmel Center Verizon Hall, Sounds from a Safe Harbour, New Victory Theatre, Cité de la Music, Paris, Hamer Hall, Melbourne, and The Tonight Show.

About Brooklyn Botanic Garden

Brooklyn Botanic Garden is an urban botanic garden that connects people to the world of plants, fostering delight and curiosity while inspiring an appreciation and sense of stewardship of the environment. Situated on 52 acres in the heart of Brooklyn and open year-round, the Garden is home to over 12,000 kinds of plants and more than 30 specialty gardens. Learn more at bbg.org.

About Metropolis Ensemble

New York-based Metropolis Ensemble is a Grammy-nominated non-profit organization dedicated to commissioning and producing ambitious projects in contemporary music, and expanding opportunities for emerging professional musical creators and performers to collaborate and inspire new audiences. Metropolis has commissioned hundreds of new works and site-specific projects, gathering independent expert musicians in premiere performances at renowned venues such as Hollywood Bowl, BAM, Lincoln Center, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Learn more at metropolisensemble.org.