In the Upper East Side townhouse that the American Irish Historical Society calls home, a violinist ambled down the stairs while tuning her instrument and a harpist improvised with electronic sounds that came from the walls.
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Cecelia Porter from The Washington Post reviewed Metropolis Ensemble’s performance at The Phillips Collection with the Phillips Camerata, Bridget Kibbey, and Quartet Senza Misura.
The Washington premiere Sunday of a bold new harp concerto capped an engaging and powerful performance of recent music by members of the Phillips Camerata, the resident ensemble of Washington’s Phillips Collection; the Quartet Senza Misura; and musicians from the New York-based Metropolis Ensemble.
Sunday’s combination of forces was a fortunate grouping of young musicians dedicated to contemporary music and sharing a truly visionary outlook. (We clearly need another way to distinguish between avant-garde compositions of the 1950s, still called “contemporary,” and today’s “contemporary” music hot off the press.)
The forceful collaboration was conducted by Grammy-nominee Andrew Cyr, a prominent influence in the world of newly emerging music. The afternoon opened with the Washington premiere of Christopher Cerrone’s “High Windows,” for solo string quartet and string ensemble. It is an imaginative work in a personal minimalist fashion calling for powerfully lunging bows, sighing harmonics and perky half-tone statements. Cyr led the players with tasteful panache, emphasizing the fluidity of the music. One of the lush moments in the ever-changing texture of the Cerrone echoed Samuel Barber’s elegiac temperament.
Cyr then led his players with driven, but elegant force in Steve Reich’s “Duet for Two Violins and Strings” and Elliott Carter’s Bariolage for solo harp. Both Reich and Carter’s music reflected an earlier version of Reich’s minimalist style of continually overlapping processes and Carter’s ever-fluctuating ideas. For the Reich, the players tackled insistent syncopations and interlocking motifs with seeming ease. In the Carter, harpist Bridget Kibbey, at once confident and delicate, displayed her instrument’s wide-ranging vocabulary for music, revealing ever-fluctuating tempos, lightning-fast leaps and the chordal richness of the piece.
Joined by a string quartet, Kibbey gave nuanced voice to the black atmosphere of Nathan Shields’ brooding “Tenebrae,” underlining its snatches of elusive luminance. In Vivian Fung’s Concerto for Harp, which was commissioned by the Phillips and other musical organizations, Kibbey’s bravura and sensitivity, especially in her cadenza, outlined the music’s intriguing mix of timbres, thorny sonorities, wailing glissandos and chirping pizzicatos echoed in the strings. In between, amusing parodies of a waltz and tango lightened up the texture. The drums and other percussion joined in, giving zest and a shade of violence to the composition.
Three of Sunday’s compositions were Washington premieres: Cerrone’s “High Windows,” Shields’ “Tenebrae” and Fung’s Concerto for Harp. Both Cerrone and Shields were on hand to explain their compositions. The concert’s end brought enthusiastic applause and cheering, concluding the Phillips’ Sunday musical 2013-2014 season.
Jon Pareles from The New York Times reviewed The Roots performance at The Public Theater on May 13, 2014, featuring Metropolis Ensemble conducted by Andrew Cyr, D.D. Jackson, Jeremy Ellis, Craig Harris, Rahzel, and Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson. Here are a few excerpts from the article:
“Conundrum, provocation, history lesson, ritual, chamber recital, jazz concert, elegy — the Roots’ performance at the Public Theater on Tuesday night was decidedly not a standard kickoff for a hip-hop album. That was clear when, near the beginning of the show, balloon animals were dropped onto the stage, covering it knee-deep; for the rest of the performance, each entrance and exit was accompanied by balloons popping underfoot like gunshots. Dozens of nooses also hung overhead.
The musicians weren’t the same Roots band seen regularly on NBC’s “Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.” They included the Metropolis Ensemble — the conductor Andrew Cyr, a string quartet and four singers — and the jazz pianist D. D. Jackson, who wrote dramatic, somberly dissonant arrangements for the ensemble. Mr. Jackson also hurled crashing free-jazz clusters and tremolos in a duet with Questlove on drums. Jeremy Ellis tapped out some two-handed workouts from a sampler, and near the beginning of the concert, there was a primordial drone from Craig Harris on didgeridoo, joined by the percussive vocals of Rahzel, a pioneering beatboxer. Two male dancers also appeared, break dancing amid the balloons.
It was a miscellany of grim tidings and stubborn determination, of sounds both earthy and avant-garde, of bitter realities and electronic hallucinations… This performance wasn’t the rollout of a consumer product; it was joining a cultural continuum."
Andrew Cyr and David Bruce talk over the score on stage for “The Firework Maker’s Daughter.”
Bob Keyes of the Portland Press Herald profiled artistic director Andrew Cyr and the banner year for the Metropolis Ensemble community, particularly regarding the album recordings: Avner Dorman’s Concertos (a 2010 Grammy nominee), Vivian Fung’s Dreamscapes (a recent Juno award winner), and the forthcoming album of Timothy Andres.
“Andrew Cyr admits, it feels really good to be right. The Fort Kent native and Bates College graduate began the Manhattan-based Metropolis Ensemble seven years ago for the single purpose of giving young classical music composers a chance to be heard. So far, it’s worked out well… People can connect the dots. It’s a small sample, but so far the Metropolis is two for two when it comes to launching the careers of composers whose music it records.”
Metropolis Ensemble, led by Grammy-nominated conductor Andrew Cyr, is delighted to announce its collaboration with The Opera Group and Opera North: “The Firework Maker’s Daughter” a new opera by David Bruce and Glyn Maxwell based on the enchanting novel by acclaimed author Philip Pullman. The family-friendly production will be presented May 3-12, 2013 at The New Victory Theater in New York City. This captivating opera tells the story of one girl’s quest to become a firework maker. Determined to master Crackle Dragons, Leaping Monkeys and Golden Sneezes, Lila tests her talents and gambles her good fortune as she parlays with pirates, grapples with ghosts and faces off with a ferocious fire-fiend. “The Firework Maker’s Daughter” features an internationally-inspired score by David Bruce and a witty libretto by Glyn Maxwell and a cast of five artists who enliven shadow puppets from Cambridge, England’s Indefinite Articles. Metropolis artists, including nine players, will perform this chamber opera in two acts, set in a fantastical land where animals talk, goddesses reign and imps dwell. Philip Pullman is the author of several best-selling books, most notably the fantasy trilogy “His Dark Materials,” including Northern Lights which was adapted for film in 2007 as “The Golden Compass” starring Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig. He published “The Firework Maker’s Daughter” in 1996, incorporating his love for the inventive names of pyrotechnics like incandescent fountain and scarlet volcano. In an interview with Scholastic, he said the idea for the book “came from my childhood when we used to have fireworks every year on Guy Fawkes Night… And I’d never lost that love of fireworks, so I thought it would be nice to do a story all about them.” Mr. Pullman suggests that theater is most valuable to us because it invites us to pretend together and that, by joining in, we make the journey something we share. The author provides audiences one undeniably adventuresome opportunity to do so, as his novel jumps from page to stage in this full-blown puppet opera. From aspiring adolescent firework makers who contend with pirate crews to an entrepreneurial albino elephant, nothing is too much for the imagination and it’s all a delectable dose of exactly what Mr. Pullman prescribes:
“Children need to go to the theater as much as they need to run about in the fresh air. They need to hear real music played by real musicians on real instruments as much as they need food and drink. They need to read and listen to proper stories as much as they need to be loved and cared for… If you deprive them of art and music and story and theater, they perish on the inside.”
Composer David Bruce is a native of Stamford, Connecticut who grew up in England and has a growing reputation on both sides of the Atlantic. Metropolis Ensemble has collaborated on multiple projects with Mr. Bruce, including
and most recently
He received his third Carnegie Hall commission
Steampunk
last year, and new commissions from The Silk Road Ensemble and the London Philharmonic in 2012. Mr. Bruce recalls his own connection to the stage and the creation of this new opera:
“Since my own childhood I have thought of the theatre as a colourful place of magic and fantasy and as I’ve grown older I am still attracted to those same aspects - for me there is not really a difference between children’s theatre and adult theatre - as I see it, it’s all ‘play’ and we are all children… In the theatre we allow ourselves to wonder - to question 'what if’ - and the question can sometimes be absurd or comical in nature, but other times be something much more profound. In a largely secular society, the theatre is one of the few places where we can still ask ourselves the big questions, and still feel wonder in all its aspects. My instinct as an artist is to set those big questions in a context that allows us to laugh, smile and relax.”
“The Firework Maker’s Daughter” makes its world premiere at Hull Truck in Yorkshire on March 23, 2013 and tours the UK at Linbury Studio and Royal Opera House in April, before coming to America and The New Victory Theater in May. Located in the heart of Times Square and 42nd Street, this historic jewel box theater (the oldest operating in New York City) is tricked out especially for families.
for children 8+ and imaginations of all ages!
Co-produced by
and Opera North in association with ROH2 and Watford Palace Theatre. Co-commissioned by The Opera Group and ROH2. Orchestral Partner: Metropolis Ensemble. Art credit for The New Victory Theater: Tom Slaughter
[caption id=“attachment_861” align=“alignright” width=“150” caption=“June Wu, Metropolis board member and patron, at the Glimpses concert with Artistic Director Andrew Cyr.”][/caption] Last year, the June K. M. Wu Artists Fund was established to honor Metropolis Ensemble board member, June Wu, and her vision and passionate dedication to our young performing artists. The Fund helped Metropolis launch a new Resident Artist Series, supported two studio recordings at Tanglewood with NAXOS and Nonesuch Records, and continued our mission to emerge the next generation of outstanding composers and musicians. As Metropolis embarks on several exciting new projects supported by the Wu Artists Fund, including the creation of our own record label, launching new albums and concerts, and expanding the Resident Artist Series, we wanted to reflect on the past year through the eyes of some of the artists who benefited from these generous gifts. [caption id=“attachment_847” align=“alignright” width=“150” caption=“Timothy Andres - pianist and composer”][/caption] Timothy Andres: An Ambitious New Album
My work with Metropolis last year was a continuation of a scheme Andrew Cyr and I had been formulating since 2008. At first, it resulted in the concert Home Stretch in the spring of 2010; now it has evolved into the production of a CD. The album is centered around my piano concerto Home Stretch, bookended by my “re-composition” of Mozart’s Coronation concerto and my Paraphrase on Themes of Brian Eno, which were both Metropolis commissions. A recording is not just a concrete item to be sold, or a promotional tool, but an artifact of our musical culture at a specific time. These artifacts can be much more powerful than a one-off concert, which by nature has limited reach and duration. A recording is a commitment, a way of saying ‘this is what we feel most strongly about, and we need to share it as widely as possible’. The scope of this recording project is ambitious, especially for a group as young as Metropolis; recording an orchestra is simply a very time-consuming and expensive proposition. Such propositions are dependent on people like June Wu, who understands the importance of such projects, shares our ambitions, and helps both things come to fruition. I will always be grateful to June not just for helping me in my career, which is small in the scheme of things, but for helping my entire field.
[caption id=“attachment_848” align=“alignright” width=“150” caption=“Bridget Kibbey - harpist and composer”]
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Bridget Kibbey: One Woman Tour-de-Force
Over the course of three years, I conceived a project entitled Music Box in which composers - all born abroad and recent immigrants to the United States and mostly living in New York City - wrote solo works for the harp based on folk music from their native country. Metropolis presented the project in January. It was a powerful personal journey, because it allowed me to showcase some of my own arrangements and explore multiple genres of harp-writing in a single evening. What was most helpful was working alongside Metropolis to give this project the “kick-off” the composers deserved. Many in the audience at each sold-out concert had never heard a full solo harp program. It was incredibly satisfying to perform these new fun, eclectic works for such enthusiastic guests. I also walked away from the concerts with high-definition video and fabulous audio to show other interested presenters. I’m happy to say that I will be presenting the project next season in other venues in the United States as a result!
[caption id=“attachment_849” align=“alignright” width=“150” caption=“Kristin Lee - violinist”]
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Kristin Lee: From Bali to the Studio and Beyond
In 2010, I joined composer Vivian Fung on a trip to Bali to understand where her ideas came from in her music. It was remarkable to visit these communities filled with gamelan music and a tangible artistic energy. It gave me an entirely new perspective on living and breathing art every day. Vivian was inspired by our trip and wrote a new Violin Concerto that we premiered at Renderings last fall with Metropolis. From there, we recorded the work at Tanglewood with the extraordinary help of audio engineer Tim Martin and the whole Metropolis gang. Professionally it really means everything to have my first recording on a major label, NAXOS, which wouldn’t be possible without June’s help and the Fund. Premiering a concerto takes money to support the commission, book the beautiful concert space at Angel Orensanz Center, and bring in the audience. As a result, I performed Vivian’s cadenza on WQXR Cafe Concerts and Metropolis received a lot of publicity. It was a huge leap in every way. As a musician, this new work written specifically for me opened new doors for commission projects with other composers and the opportunity to build programs around innovative pieces. I’m looking forward to working with Andrew Cyr and Metropolis to produce new projects for the Resident Artist Series.
[caption id=“attachment_857” align=“alignright” width=“150” caption=“Conor Hanick - pianist”]
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Conor Hanick: Teamwork and Remarkable Opportunity
In the past year, I premiered Ray Lustig’s beautiful vocal work Compose Thyself from Renderings, recorded works by Ryan Francis with the superlative Kristin Lee, and, perhaps most significantly, participated not only in Timothy Andres’ new recording on Nonesuch, but also recorded world premiere recordings of Vivian Fung’s Glimpses for prepared piano and her titanic piano concerto called Dreamscapes, both supported by the Wu Fund. I’m indebted to June for her generous and unparalleled support of Metropolis. These remarkable projects simply wouldn’t happen without her, and it’s hard to adequately thank her for giving us such remarkable opportunities through the Fund. Metropolis Ensemble afforded me some of the most extraordinary and artistically rewarding experiences of my career. It’s touching to be offered opportunities like this and hard to overstate what a privilege its been to be associated with the ensemble. Vivian’s recording is a great example: it’s a professional boon to having a widely-released commercial recording of such high quality. I am humbled to be listed alongside Andrew, Vivian, Kristin, and others. These were experiences that for me will continue to inform my musical activities and serve as benchmarks for artistic quality.
Discover the origin story that led to an ongoing collaboration between The Roots and Metropolis, and their new studio album, Undun.
[caption id=“attachment_724” align=“alignright” width=“300” caption=“Tanglewood’s Ozawa Hall”][/caption] Big news: Metropolis Ensemble is releasing two new albums—one for Nonesuch featuring works by Timothy Andres, and the other for Naxos with works by Vivian Fung. Both composers were presented in Metropolis’s latest Renderings concert at the Angel Orensanz Center on September 15. Musicians got together for an intensive week of rehearsals, followed by a weeklong recording marathon at the Tanglewood studios in Massachusetts. Timo played piano for his own pieces: Homestretch (concerto for piano and small orchestra), Paraphrase on Themes by Brian Eno (for chamber orchestra), and Piano Concerto No. 26, “Coronation” (an adaptation of Mozart’s incomplete concerto). Vivian’s pieces—Dreamscapes (for prepared piano and orchestra), Violin Concerto, and Glimpes (for solo prepared piano)—were performed by soloists Conor Hanick on piano, and Kristin Lee on violin. There are some pretty obvious factors that make recording sessions different from rehearsals and performances, but not all in ways that you might expect. Timo explains:
“Most of my job as composer was accomplished during rehearsals, where I talked about interpretation and mood. The recording session was about the fine details: balance, intonation, tempo. One thing that happens when you have different takes is you wind up with different tempos. It requires a level of precision that I find to be great for musicianship.”
Vivian had a much different rehearsal and recording experience than Timo, as she was hearing her pieces for the first time being played by musicians. “We were figuring out the kinks during rehearsal, like the tricky spots, tempo changes, coordination of Kristin’s part with everyone else,” Vivian explains. “It’s hard when you’re rehearsing the piece for the first time to get a handle on what it sounds like. You have to get familiar with the sound world.” During the recording process, Vivian was sitting in the control room making notes on what needed to be worked on, adjustments to the dynamics, marking which takes were best; she even rewrote orchestra parts to make some transitions smoother. Vivian remarks, “It would be different if it were for a performance, but this was going to be etched in a recording forever! I wanted it to sound exactly how I meant for it to be.” The whole process was a unique experience for the musicians to have the composers present for the rehearsals and recording session, offering minute-to-minute feedback and adjusting the piece as they played. Conor, who performed solo piano on Vivian’s
Dreamscapes
and
Glimpses
, commented on the experience:
“While we were rehearsing, Vivian sat next to me and wrote notes and suggestions. You definitely can’t cut any corners when a composer’s sitting next to you! It definitely ups the ante for playing the music as accurately and brilliantly as possible.”
Kristin, who played both the solo part of Vivian’s
Violin Concerto
and the orchestra part in other pieces, had to pace herself during the intense week. She compares her approach to the recording sessions and performance, which took place one week later:
“During the recording session, the priority was clarity of tone, exaggerated dynamics, clean playing—it was very focused on the technical aspects. The performance was more musical. I let loose and had a good time. I didn’t necessarily care if I missed a note, I really went over the top and was much more flexible with my interpretation.”
Despite the stressful rehearsal and recording process, Kristin comes out of it asserting, “It was really more fun than anything.” Conor also agrees that despite the grueling 9-hour recording sessions everyday, the group had an amazing time:
“The group was so positive and supportive that any time the attention span or enthusiasm dipped, there were people that brought us back. This was the smoothest sailing recording I’ve ever experience—it had a lot to do with Andrew Cyr being so organized, calm, levelheaded, and precise about what he wanted.”
The musicians and composers all agree that it was an exhausting, but totally rewarding process; Vivian shares a final reflection on the experience:
“I felt so good about the whole process because everyone was so invested in the project. For me, the pieces took on a life of their own; Conor and Kristin really owned the pieces. It’s like giving birth to a baby—it’s something that’s yours that grows into something that you share with other musicians.”
Be on the lookout for these two new Metropolis albums in 2012!