Han Chen talks with composer Jihyun Kim about her musical background and studying in America.
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Digital Projects
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
Jakub Ciupinski is a Polish composer living in New York City. Although his music is often associated with electronics and interactive performances, he has written numerous pieces for traditional acoustic forces, varying in scope from solo miniatures to symphonic works. Jakub has collaborated with Metropolis Ensemble since 2009. More »
In the debut episode of Migration Music, Han Chen talks with composer Reinaldo Moya about his opera Tienda and his immigrant story.
Introducing Metropolis Radio, our new ongoing series of curated Spotify playlists from the next generation of composers and performers.
What if a concert could go on forever? This fall, we're launching a new digital installation conceived by Jakub Ciupinski.
After six months of pandemic, everyone is living in a time of pause. Engaging in something new reminds us all of the power of imagination.
Metropolis Ensemble’s series, House Music, reflects its values of putting community at the heart of its practice, and allows it to continue to create opportunities for artists to do what they do best: make and share new music.
Our new virtual project, House Music, features bite-sized performances of both new works from musicians sheltering in place around the world.
The Loop is the official blog of Metropolis Ensemble, a new destination for ensemble updates, exclusive interviews, and music discussion.
Metropolis Ensemble is a nonprofit professional chamber orchestra in New York City dedicated to emerging the next generation of performers and composers. Part of our mission is to provide our community of arts enthusiasts access to leading composers and musicians, helping to break down the barriers between artists and audiences, and inspiring a new generation of music lovers. That’s where
The Loop
comes in. [caption id=“attachment_276” align=“alignright” width=“300” caption=“Concert rehearsal at The Times Center in April 2008 for "LOOP” by composer Ryan Francis.“]
[/caption] The blog gets its name from our April 2008 concert
, that featured the works of Ryan Francis, Maurice Ravel, Esa-Pekka Salonen, and Erik Satie (arranged by David Bruce). Ryan’s world premiere
explored repeating electronic patterns that at once were metrically complex and harmonically lucid. He was inspired by early 20th century works of Ravel and Satie, while looking to evolve his own
and reshape the listener’s expectations. In many ways, the LOOP concert and Ryan’s premiere in 2008 was an important step forward for Metropolis Ensemble. We started to recognize that our concerts could present works from diverse musical spheres and offer a kaleidoscopic sense of intertwined musical dialogue between artists and genre and between the present and past. And we opened up the lines of communication and artistic discussion between composer, musician, and arts enthusiast, largely through the medium of our website and social media sites. This, in our humble opinion, is a complete re-imagining of the entire concert experience. A concert doesn’t simply take place in one night, but begins with behind-the-scenes access to the artistic and production process, and reverberates in the world of contemporary classical music, long after the musicians have left the stage. A concert never truly ends when it can continue to be relived, reinterpreted, and rediscovered online. Thus our web environment continues to adapt and respond to this changing landscape, so we can best accommodate these ideals and give the audience a broad, detailed, honest, and uplifting perspective into music.
We are striving to take you further up and further into the lives of the outstanding composers and musicians we have the privilege to collaborate with in each concert.
We are fostering the commission and creation of outstanding new music by publishing online media and providing digital downloads.
We are reaching into the community to serve schools with arts education opportunities.
And perhaps most importantly, we are inviting you to be a vital, relevant, and enthusiastic voice in the Metropolis family.
,
,
, and
. We can’t wait to get to know you! Thanks for reading! Armistead Booker Editor of
The Loop
To celebrate our upcoming concert, Home Stretch, Metropolis Ensemble and composer Timothy Andres are delighted to offer the mp3 of his title work, having its New York premiere on May 20. You can download it here, absolutely free, for a limited time.
“Home Stretch” was recorded on December 16, 2008 in Sprague Hall at Yale University with Timothy Andres on piano and Julian Pellicano conducting the Yale Philharmonia.
(right-click to download the mp3s, ctrl-click on a mac)
Amanda Ameer interviewed Artistic Directo and Conductor Andrew Cyr about the marketing and online experience of Metropolis Ensemble, as well as the future of new music ensembles. Read the article…
With the start of the new year, we want to pause a moment to reflect on the four years since Metropolis Ensemble’s founding in 2006.
To celebrate our upcoming concert, New Music 101: Intro to Electronica, Metropolis Ensemble and composer Jakub Ciupinski are delighted to offer the mp3 of an inspiring electro-acoustic work by Jakub. “The Architect’s Brother” premiered in 2006 at the Juilliard School’s Peter Jay Sharp Theatre accompanying the choreography of Adam Weinert. You can download it here, absolutely free, for a limited time.
The Architect’s Brother as performed by Vassilis Varvaresos (piano), Marko Pavlovic (celesta), Rachel Brandwein (harp), and Eugene Lifschitz (cello).
(right-click to download the mp3s, ctrl-click on a mac)
Metropolis Ensemble is pleased to offer a free download of Sports et Divertissements, recorded live at The Times Center in New York City on April 10, 2008. Erik Satie’s twenty-one brilliant thumbnail sketches are presented in a delightful arrangement for chamber orchestra by David Bruce, and featuring our resident funny-man Mike Daisey.
(right-click to download the mp3, ctrl-click on a mac)
David and Mike had the opportunity to sit down and discuss Satie’s work ahead of last month’s concert. The conversation – ranging from challenges of composing and updating this work, to the serious (and not so serious) business of comedy – is available in the
. Be sure to also watch the
Tennis
excerpt and see conductor Andrew Cyr serve up a surprise finale.
And because there should never be lack of razor-sharp wit, Mike Daisey invites you to his latest performance:
, running through June 22 at the Barrow Street Theatre. Dark, honest and hilarious, Daisey seeks answers to essential and dangerous questions about the art we’re making, the legacy we leave to the future, and who it is we believe we’re speaking to. An
is available for Metropolis Ensemble members and fans!
Sports et Divertissements is commissioned for chamber orchestra by Metropolis Ensemble. Special thanks to audio engineer Ryan Streber, videographer Tim Bakland, and video editor Dan Hayek.
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:
(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
, along with an extensive archive of performances and behind-the-scenes footage.
Looking for more of Ryan Francis? Check out his
, and get ready for this summer’s world premiere of
. 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)!
Concerto for Piano and Chamber Orchestra is co-commission from the Metropolis Ensemble and the
with funds provided by the
. Metropolis Ensemble’s
and
programs are generously funded by the van Otterloo Foundation. Special thanks to audio engineer Ryan Streber, videographer Tim Bakland, and photographer Vern Kousky.