Paul Wiancko and Ayane Kozasa perform "American Haiku" by Paul Wiancko
Over the past six months, our House Music series has brought us all closer together through music and story. To date, we’ve released 52 episodes every Tuesday and Thursday at 10am ET.
Metropolis Ensemble started this virtual concert and commissioning series to give our community of artists the opportunity to film their own performance in the most captivating, thrilling way they can, given the creative constraints of the pandemic’s socially-distanced reality. And wow have they delivered!
We’ve encouraged Metropolis artists to collaborate with composers in the commissioning process to shape and premiere an entirely new work. No matter where we're in quarantine, there's new music collaboration happening: from Harlem to Sunnyside, San Antonio to Maine, Pittsburgh to Arizona, Chicago to Sanford, and Japan to Israel.
Here's a few highlights in no particular order:
Paula Matthusen performed electronics deep within the Connecticut woods
Ryan Francis presented an animated excerpt from "Quartet" for electronics
Elizabeth A. Baker played "field studies" outside on a bright sunny day
Sandbox Percussion gathered around the vibraphone in their Brooklyn studio
JP Jofre played a bandoneon solo in homage to a dear friend
Lance Suzuki performed flute on an empty beach in Hawaii
Jakub Ciupinski played a hacked theremin remix of another Metropolis composer's work: William Brittelle's Spiritual America
Kalia Vandever played "Everpress" on trombone from her home in Brooklyn
Immanuel Wilkins played an original work "Composition 9" as a duet with himself on saxophone and piano at home in Philadelphia
Clifton Joey Guidry performed bassoon over a video performance from Banff National Park
Doug and Brad Balliett performed together in the Finger Lakes of upstate New York
Isabel Crespo Pardo played prepared guitar, voice, and field recordings from her backyard
While this difficult time is so different from what we have ever experienced, what we do at the core of Metropolis remains the same. We support our artists and their creative process, ask them to make new work, and seek audiences to engage with them.
House Music is a reflection of our role and responsibility with the living musicians and composers in our community, to protect the marriage between audience and artist. Everyone is living in a time of pause. Engaging in something new reminds us all of the power of imagination.
We may physically be in a standstill, but Metropolis Ensemble is guiding us all to hear the music of now. Thanks for watching!