About PaulaExploring Real, Imagined, and Remembered Musical Spaces
Paula Matthusen has woven her electroacoustic textures into many Metropolis projects, including For the Birds and Flame Keepers. She has written for diverse instrumentations, such as “run-on sentence of the pavement” for piano, ping-pong balls, and electronics, which Alex Ross of The New Yorker noted as being "entrancing."Recently, Paula's creative inquiry includes extensive field recording, which has led to compositions and sound projects in aqueducts, caves, and sites of historic infrastructure.
Current Metropolis ProjectDrift + Loop
Metropolis is creating a 40-hour, continuously evolving, digital soundscape featuring new music of Paula Matthusen and inspired by William Basinsky’s iconic ambient work, “Disintegration Loops,” a project he finished the morning of September 11 while living in New York City. The project is currently being mixed and mastered.The Phillips Collection had an artsy, New York vibe on Sunday when the Metropolis Ensemble took over the place, literally. This cutting-edge, we’ll-try-anything troupe put on a roving installation of compositions by Paula Matthusen… this kind of acoustic art is good for the palate.”
The Washington Post reviewed our Brownstone concert at The Phillips Collection in 2016.
Other Career Highlights
In 2013, Paula Matthusen gave a talk on her work "Sounds in Remembered Spaces" for Wesleyan University, exploring acoustic spaces and their interplay with memory through a collection of new electroacoustic pieces.“In addition to Ligeti himself, Han Chen’s program includes established figures like Molly Joyce and Nina Young as well as an intriguing coterie of up-and-coming compositional talents.”
The New York Times previewed the Metropolis-commissioned concert, Infinite Staircase, in September 2023.Previous Metropolis Projects
2022For the Birds
Metropolis and Brooklyn Botanic Garden collaborated on the opening celebration for their new exhibition, featuring larger-than-life bird stilt walkers by Mortal Beasts & Deities and lifelike bird puppets from Processional Arts Workshop dancing to processional music from Metropolis Ensemble, created by Paula Matthusen, Matthew Evan Taylor, and John Wesley Dankwa.
2021Flame Keepers
Flame Keepers was created by Metropolis for composers during the pandemic and beyond. Paula Matthusen (live-electronics) and Olivia Valentine (live-textiles) collaborated on their contribution. Since 2021, Metropolis Ensemble has commissioned 100+ composers for Flame Keepers, our perpetual sound art installation, producing over 3,000 musical stems.
2020Free Assembly
Metropolis Ensemble, House of YES, and (le) Poisson Rouge, presented our debut digital festival, pairing creators of diverse musical aesthetics and innovative media. The program included the world premiere of Paula Matthusen's "between dust and the smell of moonlight."
2021Biophony
The annual Biophony festival and pop-up concert series brings new music to world-class institutions, open streets, and public parks across the city. The Metropolis Brain Trust, a collaborative cohort of artists including Paula Matthusen, helped make each Biophony project come to life.
2020House Music: On the Tender Gravity of Kindness
During the pandemic, Metropolis hosted a weekly House Music video series for artists to develop original works, record from home, and share new music. Paula Matthusen performed her work for electronics deep in the woods in Connecticut.
2019Legion
RighteousGIRLS (Erika Dohi andGina Izzo) performed Paula Matthusen's "in absentia," along with new works by Alex Burtzos, Andy Akiho, Ambrose Akinmusire, and Mike Perdue at One Rivington as part of the In Visible Roads piano festival.
2016Metropolis Ensemble Tenth Anniversary
Metropolis presented multi-sensory musical performances including a world premiere from Paula Matthusen, sound installations, projection mapping, and performance art alongside sixty composers and performers to celebrate ten years of music innovation.
2016Brownstone Phillips Collection
Metropolis presented the world premiere of Paula Matthusen's "between the smell of dust and moonlight" at immersive concert at The Phillips Collection in Washington, DC with musicians and electronic elements placed through several floors, galleries, and former domestic spaces. The concert also featured works by Christopher Cerrone and Jakub Ciupinski.