Metropolis Ensemble Launches 'House Music' Virtual Concert Series

Metropolis Ensemble is commissioning performers to present bite-sized works from contemporary composers, as well as composers to create new works specifically for this series, which are then recorded from wherever the artists are sheltering. "House Music" launched in late March and streams live every Tuesday and Thursday at 10AM ET. The events are accessible for free on Metropolis Ensemble's website, and its Facebook and Instagram accounts.

Click here to watch this week's featured performances with violist Ayane Kozasa (also of Aizuri Quartet) with cellist/composer Paul Wiancko performing his piece "American Haiku," and Sandbox Percussion performing "Postlude 6" by Elliot Cole.

Artists for the "House Music" series include Timo Andres, Daniel Anastasio, Clarice Assad, Brad Balliett, Doug Balliett, Jenny Beck, Andrea Cassarubios, Gabriel Cabazas, Owen Caprell, Lauren Cauley, Han Chen, Kallie Ciechomski, Jakub Ciupinski, Jordan Dodson, Erika Dohi, Emi Ferguson, Ryan Francis, Francisco Fullana, Jessica Han, Patrick Higgins, Jeremy Jordan, David Kaplan, Michael Katz, Keita Kigawa, Siwoo Kim, Ayane Kozasa, JP Jofre, Jennifer Liu, Bryan McNamara, Anna Meadors, Guy Mintus, Josh Modney, Sandbox Percussion, Inbal Segev, Emily Smith, Imri Talgam, Evan Runyon, Rebecca Steinberg, Matthew Evan Taylor, Daniel Tepfer, Emily Wells, Paul Wiancko, Immanuel Wilkins, and Andrew Yee, among many more.

"While this difficult time is so different from what we have ever experienced, what we do at the core of Metropolis remains the same," explains Metropolis Ensemble founder and Artistic Director Andrew Cyr. "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."

In addition the "House Music" series, a daily curated selection of past live concerts, commissioned works, and studio recordings will be posted on the Metropolis Ensemble homepage.

The last in-person Metropolis Ensemble performance was a sold-out premiere performance of a live score (composed by Ricardo Romaneiro) set to Fritz Lang's iconic film Metropolis at National Sawdust on March 10. All upcoming in-person Metropolis Ensemble performances, including a collaboration with Bell Orchestre as part of Ecstatic Music, have been postponed in response to the risks of COVID-19. Stay updated on rescheduled performances on the Metropolis Ensemble website.