Sequenza 21: An Ecstatic Entourage

Ilona Oltuski profiles Metropolis composer Timothy Andres after the Ecstatic Music Festival for Sequenza 21 on January 21, 2011.

“At the festival, pianist/composer Timo Andres performed his Everything is an Onion from his 2010 composition: It takes a long time to become a good composer, as well as Charles Ive’s The Alcotts from Piano Sonata No.2, at the Marathon. He is one of several performers who studied composition at Yale University. Like many of the festival participants, he is active in a broad spectrum of activities which make for a lifestyle of music. He, like many of his colleagues, likes to share his thoughts, articulated on his blog, as well as in person. We shared a coffee and a conversation in between performances.”

Read the full article…

Denver Post: Classical music series resonates

Andrew Cyr was quoted in Kyle MacMillan’s recent Denver Post Article.

Andrew Cyr, artistic director of the Metropolis Ensemble in New York City, agreed. “It’s very cool,” he wrote, “that writers like yourself are catching on to the many ways musicians and composers are building our own new audiences (and community) for the future, with venues like Le Poisson Rouge as bridges and onramps.”

Click HERE to read the full article.

Chamber Musician Today: Grammy Party

Ilona Oltuski of

GetClassical.org

shares in the excitement of Metropolis Ensemble’s Dec. 16 Grammy Nomination Party at (le) Poisson Rouge.

“It is highly unlikely that anybody in the audience that evening will ever think of the humble mandolin the way they may have thought about it before hearing Avital play; he certainly changed my appreciation for it tremendously.”

Click HERE for the full report at ChamberMusicianToday.com

Manhattan Users Guide: Grammy Party

“Could the mandolin become your new favorite instrument? It actually could, after hearing Avi Avital play it. Metropolis Ensemble, one of the most exciting  things to happen to classical music in the city, with Mr. Avital as soloist, has snagged a Grammy nomination for their CD of Avner Dorman’s Mandolin Concerto. Celebrate at Le Poisson Rouge, tonight, 8pm, free.”

Link to Post

Sequenza 21: Grammy Nomination Party

Just got a note from Andrew Cyr inviting Sequenza 21 readers (and maybe some other less distinguished people) to a free party at Le Possion Rouge tomorrow night to celebrate the Metropolis Ensemble’s Grammy nomination for its Naxos recording of Avner Dorman’s Mandolin Concerto (Avi Avital (soloist) and Andrew Cyr (conductor) with Metropolis Ensemble). Avi, Andrew and the Metropolis crew will perform a few sets during the evening, including the Mandolin Concerto and, maybe, Andrew says, even “a Balkan music jam.” Not only is admission free but the first two drinks are on the house. The party start @7 and lasts until everyone goes home. What’s not to like?

The Red Possum (as I like to call it) is located at 158 Bleecker Street (a sacred place for those of us old to have caught Thelonious Monk on stage there in a different lifetime.)

Link to Post

Sequenza 21: Dorman’s Concerti on Naxos

On the second Naxos CD devoted to the music of  Avner Dorman, concerti take center stage. At first blush, the composer seems to display a palpable streak of traditionalism. Triadic language abounds in his works and he makes many tips of the hat to Baroque music and neoclassicism. But there’s much more beneath this attractive, if familiar, surface. Dorman is also interested in uncovering some of the undiscovered potential of the concerto, exploring its capacity for different narrative arcs and recasting the genre with some unusual protagonists.

Indeed, it was for a work with an unlikely soloist, the Mandolin Concerto, written in 2006 for Avi Avital, that the disc has received the most attention. Avital’s incisive and nuanced performance has garnered a Grammy nomination. The Mandolin Concerto itself is one of the most adventurous works Dorman has yet composed. Its explorations of many timbres, orchestral effects, and myriad shifts of tempo & demeanor make it a dazzlingly mercurial and potent essay.

There’s more on the CD to recommend as well. The Metropolis Ensemble, with a passel of soloists in concertino tow, sparkle in the Concerto Grosso (2003).The work features virtuosic string writing and cinematic sweep. Indeed, here Dorman displays a fluency of orchestration that in places reminds one of John Corigliano, his teacher during doctoral studies at Juilliard.

One would be forgiven if they assumed going in that a Piccolo Concerto would be a piercing prospect and too limited a palette to work satisfactorily. I’m still not convinced that this is a genre that requires a plethora of options, but soloist Mindy Kaufman’s rendering of the Dorman concerto for the instrument reveals striking versatility. The piece itself combines jazzy rhythms, neo-Baroque signatures, and resonances of the pipes and whistles found in a variety of folk music traditions.

Written when he was just 20 years of age, Dorman’s Piano Concerto in A Major is a splashy technicolor work that embraces virtuosic showmanship, combining a prevailingly Neo-romantic aesthetic with occasional post-minimal ostinati. Pianist Eliran Avni captures the concerto’s spirit, performing its often dizzyingly paced passagework and cadenzas with pizzazz. While no one will mistake it for the mature voice found in the Mandolin Concerto, the youthful exuberance of the Piano Concerto is frequently charming.

Link to Article

Feast of Music: Timo Andres

“Schumann was 27 when he wrote Kreisleriana; Timo’s 25 now. As far as I can tell, Timo’s right on track.”

-Peter Matthews, Feast of Music

Click for Full Post

Portland Press Herald: An Honor for Andrew Cyr

From Bob Keyes on Sunday, Dec 12, 2010 in the Portland Press Herald:

Andrew Cyr, a product of the music program of Fort Kent public schools and founder and artistic director of the Manhattan-based Metropolis Ensemble, has a Grammy Award nomination to his credit. Metropolis Ensemble received a classical nomination for Avi Avital (soloist) and Cyr (conductor) for Avner Dorman’s Mandolin concerto, part of their first studio album, “Avner Dorman’s Concertos.” David Frost, who produced the disc, also received a Grammy nomination for his work on five albums, including the Dorman concertos. “It’s amazing. I am pretty thrilled at everything that is happening,” Cyr said by phone from New York. Cyr grew up in Fort Kent and received his degree from Bates College in 1996. He’s turned the Metropolis Ensemble into an important contemporary classical music enterprise in New York, and has found ways to encourage the creation of new work while recruiting new, younger fans to the genre. With the success of the Metropolis Ensemble and now a Grammy nomination, Cyr stands at the apex of the classical music scene in New York. “We made this recording back in 2007, and it came out in 2010. We never expected it to get this far,” he said. “We certainly dreamed about it, but we’re really surprised. “I was not even aware when they were making the Grammy announcement. I was working on a grant, working late into the night. The composer sent me an e-mail that said, ‘Congratulations,’ and a link.” Cyr clicked on the link, which took him to the official Grammy nomination page. He wasn’t sure what he would see when he got there, but one thing he was sure he would not: “I didn’t expect us to be there.” But there they were. A Grammy win would be a bonanza. A nomination goes a long way toward more recognition and credibility, for sure. Already, there’s a greater awareness of the Metropolis Ensemble and its effort to champion the work of emerging composers. “It’s just such an honor and a thrill,” Cyr said. “I guess what you could say it means is this: the academy listened and acknowledged that this is special music and a special recording.”

Link to Article.

Washington Post: The Grammy Nobody Knows

From Anne Midgette’s article The Grammy nobody knowson 12/7/10:

In the wake of the announcements of the Grammy nominations last week, two Los Angeles Times bloggers ran a post observing that “the Recording Academy is so much more eager to reward commercial hits than the motion picture academy.” The statement can be debated, but one thing is certain: the authors weren’t looking at this year’s classical music nominations when they wrote it.

We’ve heard a lot about how the record industry isn’t dying because there are so many new recordings – more than anybody can listen to. This year’s Grammy nominations in classical music appear to show the results of this embarrassment of riches: a sampling of recordings so wide-ranging as to appear nearly random. It’s often said that the Grammy voters go for names they recognize, but the nominations this year may curb that tendency by not offering much name recognition at all. Works by the composers Steven Mackey and Michael Daugherty were both nominated for Best Classical Album; the five nominated operas were not by Verdi or Wagner but by Berg, Hasse, Saariaho, Shchedrin, and Sir Arthur Sullivan; and Mitsuko Uchida was the lone big name in a category – Best Instrumental Soloist Performance (with Orchestra) – that included a mandolin concerto by Avner Dorman played by Avi Avital, Eliesha Nelson playing a viola concerto by Quincy Porter, and Joseph Banowetz performing a piano concerto by Paul Kletzki. No MTT (or a Hilary Hahn) in sight.

Click for full article.

The Sparkling City

Metropolis composer Jakub Ciupinski introduces an audience to his interactive electronic system using two theremins and a laptop at a private members event on December 11, 2009 at the apartment of Metropolis board member June Wu, with the shimmering holiday lights of the Upper West Side serving as backdrop. Photo by Adi Shniderman.

Jersey Journal: Andrew Cyr Grammy Nominee

Musician Andrew Cyr was burning the midnight oil Wednesday, when he received a cryptic e-mail from composer Avner Dorman.

“Congratulations,” read the message, which also included a link to an article in the L.A. Times.

Cyr clicked the link only to find that he and Dorman had been nominated for a Grammy Award.

“I was so thrilled,” Cyr said this afternoon.

In February, he will fly out to Los Angeles with his wife to attend the star-studded awards ceremony with the likes of Lady Gaga, Paul McCartney and Barbra Streisand.

Cyr has served as music director and organist at Our Lady of Grace R.C. Church in Hoboken since 2003 and is also the founder and artistic director of the Metropolis Ensemble, a non-profit orchestra, where he also conducts, and consortium of young artists and composers based in New York City.

“As I started my career as a conductor, I was like how can I be of service to the music community? How can I create new audiences? How can I help the next generation of composers?” he said.

In the fall of 2007, one year into the organization’s existence, the Metropolis Ensemble recorded its first studio album with Grammy-winning producer David Frost. Released on the NAXOS American Classics label, the album features Cyr conducting four of Dorman’s concertos. The fourth, a Mandolin Concerto with solo mandolin player Avi Avital, won the hearts of the National Academy of the Arts and Sciences.

The group is up for the category of Best Instrumental Soloist with Orchestra with four other musical groups including the Nashville Symphony and the Russian Philharmonic.

“I think it’s possible and I’m very hopeful,” he said. “I mean why not? Why not us? … For the academy to recognize a new voice in Avner and in us as an orchestra is just kind of amazing for us. We’re so, so excited just to be there.”

And what’s next for the nominee? Cyr will soon be leaving his post in Hoboken to devote himself full-time to the growth of the Metropolis Ensemble which he says its on its way to becoming a “growing institution.”

Los Angeles Times: Grammy Awards Nomination

Early Thursday morning, Dec. 2,  David Ng of the Los Angeles Times reported on the nominees for the 53rd Grammy awards, including your very own Metropolis Ensemble: Excerpt:

“Dorman’s "Mandolin Concerto” was nominated for instrumental soloist performance with orchestra. The L.A. composer said that he wrote the 15-minute piece specifically for mandolin performer Avi Avital, who performed the concerto with the New York-based Metropolis Ensemble. “I wrote it using Middle Eastern sounds and a lot of North African scales and rhythms,” said Dorman in a phone interview.“

For full article click here.

A Little Wine, A Little Nosh

Members of the Metropolis community enjoy some light hors d'oeuvres at a private members event on December 11, 2009 at the apartment of Metropolis board member June Wu. Sustaining members are treated to six or more parties and exclusive concerts throughout the year. Photo by Adi Shniderman.

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.