SINGING STONES: CELEBRATING THE ANCIENT AMERICAS On View At The Metropolitan Museum of Art In November
New commissions celebrate the reopening of The Met’s Art of the Ancient Americas galleries on November 7.
By: A.A. Cristi Oct. 21, 2025
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will mark the reopening of the newly reimagined Art of the Ancient Americas galleries in the Michael C. Rockefeller Wing with a special evening of music on Friday, November 7 at 7 p.m. The program, Singing Stones: Celebrating the Ancient Americas, will feature two new commissions by Gabriela Ortiz, one of Mexico’s most celebrated contemporary composers.
The evening begins with Roomful of Teeth, the Grammy-winning vocal ensemble known for their boundary-pushing vocal work, performing Ortiz’s Canta la Piedra—Tetluikan. Commissioned by The Met for the occasion, the piece sets poetry by Nahua multidisciplinary artist Mardonio Carballo, reflecting on the Mesoamerican worldview and its deep reverence for nature.
Following this, Mexican folk ensemble Coro Acardenchado—appearing in partnership with the Mexico Now Festival—will perform in the endangered canto cardenche style, a tradition rooted in Mexican working-class history that conveys raw emotion through unaccompanied vocal harmonies.
The two ensembles will then unite for the world premiere of Ortiz’s newly arranged Kauyumari, a double-choir composition in which a single melody evolves into a rhythmic meditation on music as a source of healing and transformation.
The performance will also feature live hand-drawn animations by Arturo López Pío, along with video projections of the sacred Wirikuta desert filmed by Mercedes Aquí and Paola Stefani, creating a visual dialogue with the music and the newly unveiled galleries.
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