Flame Keepers 07: Ryan Francis

Flame Keepers

Ryan Francis

March 28, 2021

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

Portland-based composer Ryan Francis spent most of the 2000s composing piano music, and most of the 2010s composing with synthesizers. Francis has collaborated with Metropolis Ensemble for over a decade, most recently as a co-curator of the Free Assembly online festival. Other collaborations include 2 ballets with choreographer Pontus Lidberg, the video piece I AM NOT TAME with artist Nancy Davidson, and the score for the video game Namco High with artist/writer Andrew Hussie. His piano music performed by Vicky Chow is available from Tzadik Records. More »

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Newsroom

The latest news and updates from Metropolis.

Building Bridges

[caption id=“attachment_801” align=“alignright” width=“230” caption=“Akimi Fukuhara”][/caption] Metropolis pianist Akimi Fukuhara recently gave the world premiere of Ryan Francis's Tri Cantae in Tokyo. Akimi is quickly becoming a truly international artist. Dividing her time between New York, San Francisco, and Tokyo, she has set a clear goal for herself: “My hope as an artist is to become a ‘bridge’ between the artistic communities in the U.S. and Japan.” Part of encouraging dialogue between her native Japan and the U.S. has its roots in her interest in contemporary music. “The connections between music, politics and culture are very fascinating to me; working with living composers has been an incredible way to create dialogue between different musical communities.” Among her numerous performances over the past several years, her strong advocacy of Metropolis composer Ryan Francis’s music in Japan stands out. Fukuhara and Francis have been friends and colleagues for the better part of a decade, and she has been actively championing his compositions in Japan since 2009. One such work she gave the Japanese premiere of is Francis's Wind-Up Bird Preludes. Francis’s set of preludes was actually inspired by the novel The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami, one of Japan’s most preeminent writers, who has become one of the most internationally recognized authors alive today. Although the Wind-Up Bird Preludes were completed in 2009, it took Fukuhara’s dedication to Francis’s music to bring the new work to a Japanese audience. Fukuhara even took steps to reach out to Murakami himself about the piece, and received an enthusiastic acknowledgement.

“It is really liberating to work on Francis’s music. It has taken me beyond my background of generally standard repertoire, and for Japanese audiences, hearing American new music just fresh off the page from New York is really unusual! It is especially encouraging that younger audiences I have played for are responding to contemporary music like his.”

[caption id=“attachment_803” align=“alignright” width=“300” caption=“Akimi performing in Sumida Triphony Hall.”]

[/caption] This shared interest of her and her audience in Japan ultimately lead her to commission an entirely new piece by Francis for her latest recital in Japan. This past December, she gave the world premiere Francis’s newest piano work, 

Tri Cantae

 in Sumida Triphony Hall, Tokyo. Listen to the performance: [wpaudio url=“http://metropolisensemble.org/media/afukuhara_tricantae.mp3” text=“Ryan Francis - Tri Cantae”]

“Playing Tri Cantae is like a meditation, and it requires a deep calmness and a great sense of space for its effect to come across. The whole piece consists of three voices spread across the entire range of the piano, but I wanted to play it without moving my upper body at all. The piece gave me a whole new perspective about pianistic sound, and it was really challenging to find a way of expressing each line in the piece.”

Fukuhara’s performance schedule is not exclusive to Japan however, and the Metropolis Ensemble community counts itself lucky to have had occasion to work with her. You might recognize her from her most recent appearance with the group during their appearance on last year’s

MATA Festival

. Hopefully her busy schedule will bring her rare artistry back to New York again soon!

Friday Afternoon Desktop Concert - Bach and Ryan Francis' Sillage

Bach and Ryan Francis: Sillage from Metropolis Ensemble on Vimeo.

Bach and Ryan Francis: Sillage, featuring Kristin Lee on violin and Conor Hanick on piano. Performed on February 14, 2010 at Le Poisson Rouge in New York City. This was part of Love Letter to Haiti, a Valentine’s Day benefit concert for Partners in Health, organized by Metropolis Ensemble and artistic director Andrew Cyr. Video by Gareth Paul Cox and Kyrie Cox; sound by Ryan Streber.

WQXR: Loops, Ladders and Wind-Up Birds

Metropolis composer Ryan Francis introduces his new album, Works for Piano on back-to-back broadcasts for Hammered! on WQXR’s online station, Q2, hosted by Metropolis artist Conor Hanick, from April 25-29, 2011.

“On this specially curated week of Hammered! we spotlight a new album of piano music by New York-based composer Ryan Anthony Francis. The record features Bang On A Can pianist Vicky Chow, who, with Francis, joins Hammered! throughout the week with insights on this exquisite new body of piano music. Among the diverse cast of characters looking over Francis’s compositional shoulder are author Haruki Murakami, artist M.C. Escher and poet Wilhelm Muller. You can hear their whispers: Escher’s interlocking motivic infinities in Francis’s Jacob’s Ladder, Murakami’s polished elegance in the Wind-Up Bird Preludes, and Muller’s prophetic solemnity in Consolations.”

Six Etudes for Piano (function(){var s=function())(); Consolations (function(){var s=function())(); Wind-Up Bird Preludes (function(){var s=function())(); Moonlight Fantasy (function(){var s=function())(); Read the full article…

The Piano Powerhouse

Composer Ryan Francis has a box of musical toys that’s finally ready to share. His new album Works for Piano was released on Tzadik Records April 19, and features Vicky Chow performing ten years of Ryan’s piano music, including one he wrote at age 19. His Six Etudes for Piano, a series of rhythmic musical concepts, was commissioned by Metropolis Ensemble in 2007 and premiered at the Digital Sustain concert at Chelsea Art Museum in 2008. Etudes then developed into a more cohesive Piano Concerto, also a Metropolis commission (with American Composers Forum and funds provided by the Jerome Foundation), that premiered at the LOOP concert later that spring. Ryan explains how the recording project was born out of these two performances:

“Andrew Cyr originally approached me about a chamber orchestra piece, and I countered with the idea of a chamber piano concerto. I mentioned that I had the idea of writing a set of companion etudes to the concerto, sort of like what György Ligeti did with his, and Andrew jumped at the idea, and commissioned the etudes as well, to be used as a prelude, or an introduction to the larger concerto. Vicky Chow, who is a close collaborator of mine, premiered several of the etudes on the Digital Sustain concert, and went on to perform the whole set many times, which drew the attention of John Zorn, who is the composer/co-founder of Tzadik Records. He offered me and Vicky the opportunity to record a CD, and because I’ve spent so much time writing piano music over the years, the proposed project we came back with was my complete piano works. Neither Vicky nor I had ever been in charge of a recording project, and Zorn basically cut us a check and said "go make it; this will be a learning experience for you”, which it was. I originally hoped that we would release somewhere in the range of a year after we got the offer, but it ended up taking over two years to finally come out in stores. One of the first and biggest challenges we encountered in making the recording was simply deciding where we were to record. We didn’t have a very big budget, and finding a space in New York that both had a good piano and had good acoustics for piano turned out to be one of the hardest things to find! We got lucky that our mutual friend Ryan Streber, a composer and recording engineer, was taking the leap and opening his own studio, Oktaven Audio, in Yonkers. I’ve worked with Ryan rather extensively through the years as he has been on site for a lot of live recordings of my music, and we have a close working relationship (and I also put him in touch with Metropolis Ensemble way back in the day!) so working with Ryan just felt like the best, easiest decision.“

[caption id="attachment_655” align=“alignright” width=“326” caption=“Ryan Francis and Vicky Chow”]

[/caption] The new album is now available on

Tzadik

,

Amazon

,

iTunes

, and

CD Universe

. From April 25-29, WQXR’s online station,

Q2

, is featuring the curated “loops, ladders, and wind-up birds” of Ryan Francis’ body of work, culminating in a complete broadcast of the new album on Friday. Each

Hammered!

broadcast is hosted by Metropolis artist

Conor Hanick

, who is also a pianist and regular contributor on WQXR. During the Q2 broadcasts, Ryan will be giving some background on his compositions, including

Etudes

,

Consolations

,

Wind-Up Bird Preludes

, and

Moonlight Fantasy

; and Vicky Chow will perform new works by fellow composers Andy Akiho, Evan Ziporyn, Eliot Britton and Daniel Wohl.

Follow the complete series here.

Listen to

Six Etudes for Piano

here:

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Rhapsody in Blue

Conductor Andrew Cyr rehearses “Piano Concerto” with Metropolis artists at The TImes Center in New York City on April 10, 2008. The building’s acclaimed interior garden and aspen trees are visible through the 30-foot glass wall. “Piano Concerto” was composed by Metropolis Ensemble’s Wet Ink Composer Resident Ryan Francis and received its world premiere at the “LOOP” concert, featuring pianist Anna Polonsky. Photo by Vern Kousky.

Launching A Cutting-Edge Ensemble

How do you launch a new ensemble that makes an impact? What does it take to produce innovative concert experiences that garners praise and attention? Join conductor and founder Andrew Cyr, composer Ryan Francis, and harpist Bridget Kibbey to hear the story of Metropolis Ensemble in the “Setting the Stage” workshop series from Manhattan School of Music’s Center for Music Entrepreneurship. Two identical workshops will be held with Andrew, Ryan, and Bridget. All MSM students and alumni are welcome.

Wednesday, February 9 (1-3pm) Miller Recital Hall - 601 West 122nd Street Friday, February 11 (11-1pm) Mikosky Recital Hall - 601 West 122nd Street

“Setting the Stage” is one of CME’s programs that invites an exciting array of presenters from the music industry to lead single-session workshops on topics including new media, the art of fundraising, launching a concert series, producing recordings, and creating press kits. Each of the Center’s programs give young musicians real-world experience and guidance with the fundamental tools they need for a career in music today.

Learn more about the Center for Music Entrepreneurship…

Schedule of upcoming workshops…

Ryan Francis World Premiere: High Line

[caption id=“attachment_458” align=“alignright” width=“250” caption=“The High Line in New York City, the inspiration for Ryan Francis’ new work. ”][/caption]Metropolis composer Ryan Francis was recently selected as the winner of an exciting commission from the American Composers Orchestra and Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton on the theme of “A Greener New York City.” Francis’ new work “High Line” draws its inspiration from the popular New York City Park, The High Line, as a reflection on “the city’s industrial past and a more environmentally sustainable future.” The work is drawing praise ahead of its world premiere at Carnegie Hall on December 3, 2010 (7:30pm): “triumphant… fresh and vital… innovative and original.” Renaud Dutreil, chair of LVMH shared his compliments to Francis:

“I was immediately moved by the vibrant work that seemed both familiar and revolutionary, much like the feeling one gets when walking on the unique High Line. Francis’ triumphant sound effectively captures the vibrancy and excitement of this great green public space and, when performed, is a celebration of not only the park and the city, but also of Art de Vivre.”

Francis will be featured at the ACO concert

Orchestra Underground

alongside other composers whose works capture “a time and place” including Charles Ives, Jerome Kitzke, Douglas Cuomo, and Christopher Trapani. Listen to Ryan discuss the inspiration behind his new work:

Experience the world premiere of “High Line” this Friday, December 3 at Carnegie’s Zankel Hall.

Tickets and information…

Update:

Ryan Francis and “High Line” is featured today in

The Wall Street Journal

for his debut of “High Line.” Ryan also curated music selections today on Columbia University’s

WKCR FM

“Morning Classical” program.

Manhattan Users Guide: The Orchestra

Metropolis Ensemble and Piano Concerto by Ryan Francis are featured in this daily email newsletter, hailing the orchestra as “the hippest classical gang in the city.” Read the article…

Piano Concerto Available for Free Download

Metropolis Ensemble and composer Ryan Francis are delighted to offer the complete live recording of Concerto for Piano and Chamber Orchestra during its world premiere performance at The Times Center in New York City on April 10, 2008. You can download it here, absolutely free.

Ryan Francis: Concerto for Piano and Chamber Orchestra:

• Movement 1

• Movement 2

• Movement 3

• Movement 4

(right-click to download the mp3s, ctrl-click on a mac)

You can also watch the entire

Concerto

, featuring pianist Anna Polonsky and the Metropolis Ensemble led by Artistic Director/Conductor Andrew Cyr on the

Media Page

, along with an extensive archive of performances and behind-the-scenes footage.

Watch now…

Looking for more of Ryan Francis? Check out his

MySpace

, and get ready for this summer’s world premiere of

The Rite: Remixed

. Ricardo Romaneiro joins forces with Ryan Francis and Leo Leite to re-conceptualize the most revolutionary work of the 20th Century, Igor Stravinsky’s

The Rite of Spring

, through the lens of the latest sounds and technology from electronica! Three opportunities to experience the revolution (July 16-18)!

Complete details…

Concerto for Piano and Chamber Orchestra is co-commission from the Metropolis Ensemble and the

American Composers Forum

with funds provided by the

Jerome Foundation

. Metropolis Ensemble’s

Wet Ink

and

Youth Works

programs are generously funded by the van Otterloo Foundation. Special thanks to audio engineer Ryan Streber, videographer Tim Bakland, and photographer Vern Kousky.

Wordless Music + Celebrate Brooklyn

Metropolis Ensemble will be opening for Deerhoof in Prospect Park on July 18, 2008, as part of the

Wordless Music Series

and

Celebrate Brooklyn

.

Metropolis Ensemble led by Artistic Director/Conductor Andrew Cyr and Wordless Music co-commissions

The Rite: Remixed

, a collaboration between three composers and live electronics producers, explodes the boundaries of live electro-classical music. Ryan Francis, Leo Leite, and Ricardo Romaneiro re-conceptualize the most revolutionary work of the 20th Century, Igor Stravinsky’s

The Rite of Spring

, through the lens of the latest sounds and technology from electronica. Combined with acoustic forces consisting of huge percussion and brass ensembles, 2 keyboards / 2 laptops, and electric bass, the remixed version will fuse a futuristic, rhythm-inspired sonic tableaux with a hyper-kinetic visual show.

The Metropolis Ensemble and

The Rite: Remixed

appears as part of the

Wordless Music Series

, which puts popular and classical artists together to tear down boundaries between performers and audiences of each. “At the moment, there is no more inventive music series in New York” (Alex Ross, The New Yorker).

The mercurial SF experimentalists

Deerhoof

, “the most creative band in indie rock today,” (LA Weekly) forge a distinctive sound out of sophisticated improvisation, fierce dissonance, and weirdly catchy melodies.

Program Notes: Ryan Francis' Piano Concerto

Program notes for the LOOP concert on April 10, 2008, featuring the works of Ryan Francis, Maurice Ravel, Esa-Pekka Salonen, and Erik Satie (arranged by David Bruce). This concerto feels like an arrival point for me artistically that has been in the works for the past four years. I’ve been exploring a lot of seemingly (to me, at least) disparate musical concepts, but this concerto is the crucible in which I’m forging them all together.  On the one hand, I’ve written a good deal of music that deals more with textural as opposed to ‘metric’ rhythms, and I also have a parallel string of pieces that are concerned with electronic influence on acoustic music, which are much more metrically complex, while retaining more harmonic clarity. My interest in electronics has influence the concerto on both an aural level and a process level. While the concerto’s orchestration is often designed to create 'electronic’ timbres, I also decided to forego my traditional paper-and-pencil-exclusively method of composing, in favor of working with MIDI maps. This new method of working allowed me to explore and develop textures that I probably would have never discovered were I simply working with my hands on a keyboard, and this influenced the soloist’s part in particular. I would write with grids, unconcerned with playability, and would then transcribe them into mensural notation and revise and revise until they were completely idiomatic. The result has been that the piano writing is often utterly different than my previous work, which was my goal. Each of the movements were developed out of piano etudes that I have been writing for the past year, and the form of each movement reflects the same sort of obsessive quality of an etude, although I allowed myself to be a little more expansive as well; this is a concerto, after all!

• The first movement could almost be a chorale, were it not for the sharp syncopated disjunctive melodic contours that cut through the texture.

• The second movement is a sort of musical Jacob’s Ladder, constantly rising musical gestures that are also continuously falling.

• The third movement is more about color than the others, and less rhythmically driving as well, although there is a gentle repeated note pulse that runs through much of the movement.

• The final movement is comprised of two basic layers: a light, distant textural one, and a foreground built on constantly evolving loops of material.

Ryan Francis Wins American Composers Forum Commission

Metropolis Ensemble’s Wet Ink Composer Resident, Ryan Francis, won a competitive commission from the American Composers Forum with funds provided by the Jerome Foundation for his Piano Concerto. The world premiere will be presented by the Metropolis Ensemble’s spring concert, Loop, on April 10, 2008 with pianist Anna Polonsky and conductor Andrew Cyr. Here’s the official announcement:

The American Composers Forum announces the results of the 2007 Jerome Composers Commissioning Program (JCCP). JCCP, now in its 28th year and one of only a few national commissioning programs, supports the production of new musical works by emerging composers. It seeks to boost a composer’s career by offering composers an early commission and more experienced composers a chance to stretch their current boundaries. Composers apply with an ensemble or presenter and request support to underwrite the commissioning fee. Awards this year ranged from $3,000-8,000. A total of 17 projects were funded from a pool of $90,000.

Jerome Foundation was created by artist and philanthropist Jerome Hill in 1964, and makes grants to support emerging artists across the performing and visual arts, particularly those based in Minnesota and New York.

American Composers Forum is an organization committed to supporting composers and developing new markets for their music. Through grants, commissions, and performance programs, the Forum provides resources for over 1,700 composers around the world.

Congratulations to Ryan for this exciting achievement!