Credits
Matthew Evan Taylor, composition and saxophone
Rajna Swaminathan, voice and mrudangam
Developed and produced by Metropolis Ensemble
Andrew Cyr, Founder/Artistic Director
Christopher Botta, Editor
Videography: Sam Kann (VT) and Ganavya Doraiswamy and David Jacobs-Strain (OR)
Juniper Creative LLC, Art
Commissioned and produced by The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Department of Live Arts
This program is made possible by the Adrienne Arsht Fund for Resilience through Art.
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Matthew Evan Taylor: Postcards to The Met
Postcard 4: June 2021
Postcard 4 was filmed in Middlebury, VT, May 25, 2021 and Eugene, OR, May 13, 2021.
Program Notes
To Rajna –
Unless we listen to our hearts,
Time will pass imperceptibly.
Once we listen to our hearts
We vocalize the future we wish to see.
The challenge – to make our marks within the time we have
Score Preview
Composer and saxophonist Matthew Evan Taylor has been hailed as “a promising new voice” (Miami Herald) and a “risk taker” (Huffington Post) whose music is “insistent and defiant ... envelopingly hypnotic” (Lucid Culture). A southern kid who worshiped at the altar of Cannonball Adderly… READ MORE
Rajna Swaminathan is an acclaimed mrudangam (a barrel-shaped South Indian drum) artist, composer, and scholar. Rajna has been described as “a vital new voice” (Pop Matters), creating “music of gravity and rigor… yet its overall effect is accessible and uplifting”… READ MORE
RAJAS brings together stellar improvisers at the confluence of multiple musical approaches. RAJAS explores the resonances among Indian music, jazz and creative music, and other improvisational forms. READ MORE
Miles Okazaki is a NYC based guitarist originally from Port Townsend, a small seaside town in Washington State. His approach to the guitar is described by the New York Times as “utterly contemporary, free from the expectations of what it means to play a guitar in a group setting — not just in jazz, but any kind.” READ MORE
Memphis-bred, Grammy-nominated, Echo Award-winning bassist/composer Stephan Crump is an active bandleader with twelve critically-acclaimed album releases in addition to numerous film scoring contributions. READ MORE
Grammy-nominated conductor Andrew Cyr, a “prominent influence in the world of newly emerging music” (Washington Post), is a leader in the rapidly growing contemporary music scene. His passion for creating new platforms for outstanding emerging composers and performing… READ MORE
Juniper Creative Arts is a Vermont-based Black and Dominican family collective with a mission-driven practice of creating art that involves and celebrates historically excluded communities… READ MORE
Watch recent Postcards