Viewing entries tagged
metrovfung

Washington Post: "Bold, Engaging, Powerful, and Forceful"

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.

Read the full article…

Three Grammy Wins for the Metropolis Community!

Three Grammy Wins for the Metropolis Community!

The 56th Annual Grammy Awards on January 26, 2014 proved to be a stellar night for the artists and collaborators of Metropolis Ensemble in multiple winning categories!

Vivian Fung Wins Juno Award!

2988518265_1_3_cQV3KyXh

Classical Composition of the Year for “Violin Concerto” commissioned, performed, and recorded by Metropolis Ensemble

The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) announced today that Edmonton-born composer Vivian Fung’s Violin Concerto is the winner of the 2013 Juno Award for “Classical Composition of the Year.”

The concerto was released on the new studio album Dreamscapes featuring soloist Kristin Lee and “played with precision and heart by the Metropolis Ensemble” (NPR). Dreamscapes is the first release on the Naxos Canadian Classics label. Vivian Fung’s Violin Concerto and Piano Concerto were both commissioned by Metropolis Ensemble and recorded at Tanglewood in 2011.

Many thanks are in order for the entire team, board of directors, and most especially Paul and Libby De Rosa for their vision and generosity in supporting the commissioning of the Violin Concerto as well as the recording of this album; Kristin Lee, solo violinist; our engineer/producer Tim Martyn at Phoenix Audio; all the Metropolis Ensemble artists appearing on the album; and Raymond Bisha and the Naxos label.

Metropolis Artists appearing on Dreamscapes:

Lance Suzuki, Flute; James Austin Smith, Oboe; Carlos Cordeiro, Clarinet; Adrian Morejon, Bassoon; Danielle Rose Kuhlmann, Horn; Paul Murphy, Trumpet; Britton Matthews, Percussion; Sean Statser, Percussion; Bridget Kibbey, Harp; Violin: Owen Dalby, Amalia Hall, Sheryl Hwangbo, Emilie-Anne Gendron, Siwoo Kim, Kristin Lee, Sean Lee (Concertmaster), Miho Saegusa, Emily Smith, Elly Suh, Emma Sutton, Tema Watstein; Viola: Dave Auerbach, Phil Kramp, Eric Nowlin; Cello: Na-Young Baek, Ashley Bathgate, Hiro Matsuo; Bass:Rachel Calin

Andrew Cyr, Artistic Director/Conductor

Listen to the album and explore more about Vivian Fung.

Vivian Fung Nominated for Juno Award

The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) announced this morning that Edmonton-born composer Vivian Fung’s Violin Concerto is nominated for the 2013 Juno Award in the category of “Classical Composition of the Year.”

The concerto was released on the new studio album Dreamscapes featuring soloist Kristin Lee and “played with precision and heart by the Metropolis Ensemble” (NPR). The recording is receiving critical acclaim for its “welcome lyricism and grace” (SF Chronicle) and “intimate, often pensive, but frequently playful sound world” (Philadelphia Inquirer).

“Complete shock and elation!” exclaimed Ms. Fung on hearing the news of the Juno nod. “What an honor to be nominated next to such esteemed and admired Canadian composers. However, the award is symbolic for the entire team of people who worked so hard to make this CD happen.”

Kristin Lee echoed this enthusiasm: “I am absolutely thrilled to hear this incredible news! I feel truly honored to have been a part of this experience.”

Dreamscapes is the first release on the brand new Naxos Canadian Classics label that will feature 6-8 composers from across Canada annually. “It is a terrific roster of composers with whom to be nominated,” said Raymond Bisha of Naxos. “Clearly this nomination is the result of everyone’s hard work and inspiration and congratulations all around are deserved.”

All three of the works on the new recording have drawn their inspiration from Ms. Fung’s travels to Bali. Both the Violin Concerto and Piano Concerto were commissioned by Metropolis Ensemble and recorded at Seiji Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood in 2011.

“I couldn’t be happier — we’ve covering all bases now between the Grammys and Juno Awards!” remarked Andrew Cyr, artistic director and conductor of Metropolis Ensemble. “This is a truly special nomination which honors Vivian’s vision and the internationally recognized award brings to the spotlight the artistry of our players, soloist Kristin Lee, and our engineering team led by Tim Martyn, who all worked so hard to match Vivian’s inspiration. I also wish to thank Paul and Elizabeth De Rosa for providing the critical support to for Metropolis Ensemble to commission and record this work.”

The 2013 Juno Awards will be presented on April 21 on CTV with host Michael Buble. Dreamscapes is now available on iTunes and Amazon. Show your support for Vivian Fung and Metropolis Ensemble’s album and request Violin Concerto to be played on your local radio station today!

Praise for Dreamscapes

“Played with precision and heart by the Metropolis Ensemble” -National Public RadioDreamscapes, the new Naxos album from Metropolis Ensemble featuring the works of Vivian Fung, is receiving high praise in the media. Here is a roundup of the reviews and commentary on the recording. NPR’s Bob McQuiston lauds the new album on the Deceptive Cadence blog:

“The new album Dreamscapes… features works by one of today’s most eclectic composers, Canadian-born Vivian Fung. John Cage fans will love her solo pieces for prepared piano, while traditionalists should find intriguing the concertos for violin and piano… Violinist Kristin Lee’s performance is not only technically brilliant but her sensitive phrasing and pacing endow the music with both an emotional and intellectual appeal… Pianist Conor Hanick’s performance is laudable for its agility… Both soloists receive magnificent support from conductor Andrew Cyr and the Brooklyn-based Metropolis Ensemble, whose members not only turn in virtuosic performances, but follow their extracurricular instructions to the letter. Also, the recording engineers get a big gold star for a spectacular sounding disc.”

Both local classical stations in New York City have included the new album in recent broadcasts. John Schaefer featured the recordings with its “clear inspiration or influence from Indonesian gamelan music” on

WNYC’s New Sounds

.

And Olivia Giovetti introduced the album on

WQXR’s The New Canon

with the following review:

Two concertos dominate Dreamscapes, Vivian Fung’s new album on Naxos’s Canadian Classics series, and both demonstrate Fung’s prepossessing predilection for cross-cultural conversations. Her own Violin Concerto was written with a symbiosis similar to that of Salonen and Josefowicz’s, responding to Fung’s time spent in Bali with violinist Kristin Lee (the violin often resembles the Balinese gamelan). The Metropolis Ensemble, under Andrew Cyr, gave Fung’s Violin Concerto its world premiere last year and returns here for the recording, which also features Fung’s Piano Concerto, “Dreamscapes.” The study of contrasts is apt for an instrument that can juggle two musical lines at once, and here that honor falls to Q2 Music’s own Conor Hanick.“

Joshua Kosman from the

San Francisco Chronicle

hails the album and its "welcome lyricism and grace.”

“The scales and rhythms of Balinese and Javanese gamelan suffuse the three pieces represented here… Yet the further Fung strays from that stylistic foundation, the more fascinating and rewarding her music becomes… The year-old Violin Concerto that leads off the disc boasts a certain winsome charm, especially in the fluid performance of soloist Kristin Lee… the final Piano Concerto, in a powerhouse rendition featuring soloist Conor Hanick. Here at last is music of dramatic urgency and depth, in which Fung draws on ideas from gamelan while also adding plenty of her own original material – clangorous, dissonant harmonies, off-kilter rhythms and a sense of wild unpredictability.”

David Patrick Stearns from the

Philadelphia Inquirer

suggests that with the

Violin Concerto

, "Fung is in her own more intimate, often pensive, but frequently playful sound world, which indeed lives up to the album’s title… At every point in the disc, Fung has a strong sense of thematic control and structural overview that suggests more great things to come.” David Olds from

The Whole Note

praises the release saying “the disc lives up to my expectations.”

“All three of the works presented here are based on gamelan motifs and melodies giving the disc a wonderful continuity… Like a number of composers before her Fung has taken inspiration from her own travels to Indonesia and truly made this music her own.”

Dreamscapes Review: "A Powerhouse Rendition"

Joshua Kosman from the San Francisco Chronicle hails the new Metropolis Ensemble album, Dreamscapes, and its “welcome lyricism and grace.” Here’s an excerpt from his review:

“The year-old Violin Concerto that leads off the disc boasts a certain winsome charm, especially in the fluid performance of soloist Kristin Lee….the final Piano Concerto, in a powerhouse rendition featuring soloist Conor Hanick. Here at last is music of dramatic urgency and depth, in which Fung draws on ideas from gamelan while also adding plenty of her own original material – clangorous, dissonant harmonies, off-kilter rhythms and a sense of wild unpredictability.”

Read the complete review…

Dreamscapes on WNYC and WQXR

Dreamscapes, the new album from Metropolis Ensemble featuring the works of Vivian Fung, is already turning heads and getting airplay ahead of the formal Naxos release on September 25 (and the Metropolis CD launch event on October 1). Both local classical stations in New York City have included the new album in broadcasts this week. John Schaefer featured the recordings with its “clear inspiration or influence from Indonesian gamelan music” on WNYC’s New Sounds. And Olivia Giovetti introduced the album on WQXR’s The New Canon with the following review:

Two concertos dominate Dreamscapes, Vivian Fung’s new album on Naxos’s Canadian Classics series, and both demonstrate Fung’s prepossessing predilection for cross-cultural conversations. Her own Violin Concerto was written with a symbiosis similar to that of Salonen and Josefowicz’s, responding to Fung’s time spent in Bali with violinist Kristin Lee (the violin often resembles the Balinese gamelan). The Metropolis Ensemble, under Andrew Cyr, gave Fung’s Violin Concerto its world premiere last year and returns here for the recording, which also features Fung’s Piano Concerto, “Dreamscapes.” The study of contrasts is apt for an instrument that can juggle two musical lines at once, and here that honor falls to Q2 Music’s own Conor Hanick.

Send a request to your local classical radio station to get

Dreamscapes

played near you!

Into the Dreamscapes with Vivian Fung

Into the Dreamscapes with Vivian Fung

Chatting with composer Vivian Fung about her upcoming studio release with Metropolis Ensemble and finding her voice in the creative process.

Sean Lee and The Juilliard Sessions

Sean Lee and The Juilliard Sessions

Violinist Sean Lee talks to Metropolis about his critically-acclaimed new release with EMI Classics and The Juilliard School.

New Metropolis Recordings: Documenting the Process

[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!

Rendering a New Season Together

Rendering a New Season Together

Recapping the world premiere performances from Metropolis resident composers Timothy Andres, Vivian Fung, and Ray Lustig.