Ethel String Quartet To Premiere SEASONS NOW At The Metropolitan Museum Of Art
New program reimagines Vivaldi’s Four Seasons for its 300th anniversary.
By: A.A. Cristi Nov. 18, 2025
The GRAMMY-winning quartet Ethel Will premiere SEASONS NOW at The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium on Friday, December 12, 2025 at 7 p.m. The new program will honor the 300th anniversary of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons through the ensemble’s original arrangements of the Baroque concerti and four newly composed “seasons” by Daniel Bernard Roumain, Layale Chaker, Leilehua Lanzilotti, and Ching-chu Hu. Ethel Will be joined by keyboardist Blair McMillen and drummer Colin Stranahan.
The program will premiere newly commissioned works that interpret the concept of the seasons through varying cultural, musical, and personal lenses. Roumain’s Autumn for Carol Mayorga reflects themes of shift and resilience; Chaker’s The Fifth Season (Maelstrom) explores blurred seasonal boundaries in a changing climate; Lanzilotti’s while they are still there responds to ecological fragility in Hawai‘i; and Hu’s Solstice considers renewal and balance. These compositions will appear alongside newly reimagined versions of Vivaldi’s concerti, arranged by ETHEL members Dorothy Lawson, Corin Lee, Kip Jones, and Ralph Farris.
Each of ETHEL’s Four Seasons arrangements reframes Vivaldi’s writing through contemporary textures, including jazz influences, fusion elements, electronic color, and urban soundscapes. Together, the new commissions and arrangements create a program that combines the Baroque masterwork with a range of modern idioms.
SEASONS NOW
Date: Friday, December 12, 2025
Time: 7 p.m.
Venue: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium
Tickets: Starting at $35
ABOUT ETHEL
For nearly three decades, ETHEL has been active on international stages as a boundary-pushing ensemble dedicated to contemporary music. The quartet’s work includes more than 500 premieres and collaborations with artists across genres, and their performances have appeared at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Sydney Opera House, the Concertgebouw, and the Venice Biennale. The ensemble includes composer-performers Ralph Farris, Kip Jones, Dorothy Lawson, and Corin Lee, and maintains educational residencies at institutions including Denison University, Peabody Conservatory, CUNY’s Macaulay Honors College, The Met, and the University of Oklahoma School of Music.
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