#metropolis ensemble

[burlveneer-music]

Tyondai Braxton - Telekinesis

Telekinesis—an eighty-seven-piece work for electric guitars, orchestra, choir and electronics—will be released on November 11, 2022, via New Amsterdam and Nonesuch Records. Featuring the Metropolis Ensemble conducted by Andrew Cyr, the Brooklyn Youth Chorus conducted by Dianne Berkun Menaker, and chamber choir The Crossing conducted by Donald Nally, Telekinesis is the first studio recording of the work. Telekinesis is the result of a co-commission by the Southbank Centre London and Musica Nova, Helsinki Festival. The world premiere took place on April 18, 2018 at Queen Elizabeth Hall with the BBC Concert Orchestra and BBC Singers, followed by a performance at Helsinki Festival by the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra. Andre de Ridder conducted both performances. Braxton calls Telekinesis “the latest and largest example of intersections between my electronic music and notated music, both sonically and philosophically.” Throughout the recording and production process, Braxton sought to “create an environment where electronic instruments and acoustic instruments coexist in a place that feels balanced and organic.” To achieve that, the orchestra, choir, and electronics were tracked section by section at Oktaven Audio in Mt Vernon, New York from August 2021 to March 2022 by engineer Ryan Streber. This allowed for a hyper-detailed mix session with Seth Manchester at Machines with Magnets in Pawtucket, RI. As a studio recording, the mix recreates how an orchestra would be placed (with some exceptions), but is exaggerated in its width and in the closeness and depth of certain instruments, surrounding the listener. Braxton says: “As a science fiction and horror fan, the initial idea was to write an opera based on the Japanese manga masterpiece Akira, although over time, I realized I was more interested in the story as an invisible thematic guide rather than something more literal. Among a number of storylines in Akira is the idea that a young boy comes upon the ability to move objects and generate energy with his mind. Entirely enthralled with his own power and apparent limitless potential, and despite his inability to physically and mentally control this force, he launches unrestrained into its use. Ultimately, his hubris overtakes and destroys him. The power of the mind has been a compelling consideration for me and is an underlying theme in this piece.” Composer, Electronics, Celeste: Tyondai Braxton Metropolis Ensemble: Andrew Cyr, artistic director/conductor Brooklyn Youth Chorus: Dianne Berkun Menaker, conductor The Crossing: Donald Nally, conductor Cover Art: "Sanctuary City" by Grace Villamil

[moochilatv]

Metropolis Ensemble, Erik Hall, Sandbox Percussion presents: Canto Ostinato (Sections 41-55) (Simeon ten Holt)

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Simeon ten Holt's landmark minimalist opus, Canto Ostinato, has a known magnetism. The piece's captivating harmony and winding structure prove an adventurous enterprise for any like-minded players embarking down its path, and it was at this very threshold that Metropolis Ensemble's Andrew Cyr, musician/composer Erik Hall, and the members of Sandbox Percussion all found each other. Their ensuing undertaking marks a world-class collaboration that yields an expansive and beautifully detailed new presentation of ten Holt's iconic work.

The three collaborators announced the release of their version of Canto Ostinato, set for an April 3rd release date via Western Vinyl. On Tuesday 3/3, the three parties share the second excerpt of Canto Ostinato, "Sections 41-55." It offers another glimpse at the breathtaking collective piece, which spans peaks and valleys.

Recorded by GRAMMY-winning audio engineer Mike Tierney, the performance was captured in New York, 2025. Sandbox Percussion's array of mallet instruments maintains a unified and gracefully athletic expression of the piece's duration, while David Leon's octet of woodwinds overlay a kaleidoscopic tapestry. Eighteen strings—led by award-winning violinist Kristin Lee—provide cinematic, otherworldly depth. And Erik Hall's concert grand piano threads through it all, a passionately reverent preservation of the piece's keyboard origins. Altogether, a breathtaking new form for Simeon ten Holt's already-monumental opus, each element serving the whole while driving towards a rapturous resolution.

Full album released April 3, 2026 with performances on 4/8 at @newschoolperformingarts and 4/10 in Seattle and 4/11 in Olympia with @emeraldcitymusic and @metropolisensemble with @intallbuildings

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[nonesuchrecords]

Composer Sarah Kirkland Snider’s fifth full-length LP, the all-orchestral album Forward Into Light, produced by Silas Brown and recorded by Metropolis Ensemble led by artistic director/conductor Andrew Cyr, is out now on New Amsterdam / Nonesuch Records. You can get it and hear it here.

The album features Forward Into Light, inspired by the American women’s suffrage movement; the string orchestra and harp (Noël Wan) version of Drink the Wild Ayre; Eye of Mnemosyne, a work on memory, innovation, and culture; and Something for the Dark, a meditation on resilience. Snider says: “I chose to create an album of these four works because they share themes of perseverance, alliance, and evolution through dark and light—concepts that have been at the forefront of my mind in recent years."

[moochilatv]

Metropolis Ensemble, Erik Hall, Sandbox Percussion presents: Canto Ostinato Sections 74-87

Simeon ten Holt

Simeon ten Holt's landmark minimalist opus, Canto Ostinato, has a known magnetism. The piece's captivating harmony and winding structure prove an adventurous enterprise for any like-minded players embarking down its path, and it was at this very threshold that Metropolis Ensemble's Andrew Cyr, musician/composer Erik Hall, and the members of Sandbox Percussion all found each other. Their ensuing undertaking marks a world-class collaboration that yields an expansive and beautifully detailed new presentation of ten Holt's iconic work.

View this post on Instagram

Today the three collaborators announce the release of their version of Canto Ostinato, set for an April 3rd release date via Western Vinyl. To coincide with the announcement, they share the breathtaking "Canto Ostinato Sections 74-87" from the piece.

Recorded by GRAMMY-winning audio engineer Mike Tierney, the performance was captured in New York, 2025. Sandbox Percussion's array of mallet instruments maintains a unified and gracefully athletic expression of the piece's duration, while David Leon's octet of woodwinds overlay a kaleidoscopic tapestry. Eighteen strings—led by award-winning violinist Kristin Lee—provide cinematic, otherworldly depth. And Erik Hall's concert grand piano threads through it all, a passionately reverent preservation of the piece's keyboard origins. Altogether, a breathtaking new form for Simeon ten Holt's already-monumental opus, each element serving the whole while driving towards a rapturous resolution.

[nonesuchrecords]

Composer Sarah Kirkland Snider has released Eye of Mnemosyne: III. Mori: "Memory of the Dead,"' a new track from her upcoming album, Forward Into Light, as well as this video for it by Deborah Johnson / CandyStations. Produced by Silas Brown and recorded by Metropolis Ensemble and artistic director/conductor Andrew Cyr, Forward Into Light is due February 27; you can pre-order it here. Eye of Mnemosyne is an orchestral work on memory, innovation, and culture as refracted through the lens of photography.

[nonesuchrecords]

Composer Sarah Kirkland Snider’s fifth full-length LP, a new, all-orchestral album Forward Into Light, produced by Silas Brown and recorded by Metropolis Ensemble led by artistic director/conductor Andrew Cyr, is due February 27 on New Amsterdam / Nonesuch Records. You can hear two tracks and pre-order the album here.

Forward Into Light features the title track, inspired by the American women’s suffrage movement; the string orchestra and harp (Noël Wan) version of Drink the Wild Ayre; Eye of Mnemosyne, a work on memory, innovation, and culture; and Something for the Dark, a meditation on resilience. Snider says: “I chose to create an album of these four works because they share themes of perseverance, alliance, and evolution through dark and light—concepts that have been at the forefront of my mind in recent years."

[nonesuchrecords]

"The title of the piece, The Blind Banister, comes from a poem in five sections by Thomas Tranströmer, the Swedish poet, called Schubertiana, which is about the different ways in which Schubert’s music can be contextualized in different lives, in different contexts and in different situations," composer/pianist Timo Andres says in an Adventures in Music conversation with Jari Kallio, about his new album, out this Friday: "the idea that this disembodied thing, this music that was written hundreds of years ago, can have such different meaning to different people simultaneously … To me that idea of the incomplete being made real or seeming real was the guiding idea for the piece, and it describes very much how I feel about Beethoven’s music and Schubert’s music—as well as Brahms, Schumann, Bach, Sibelius and Ives, so much music of the past that is important in my life that I feel to be this reference point that will always be there, acquiring new meaning for me as I lived my life." You can read the article here.

[nonesuchrecords]

Timo Andres’ new album, The Blind Banister, is due March 22 on Nonesuch. The album comprises three works by the composer/pianist: the piano concerto The Blind Banister (a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 2016), with Andres as soloist, and Upstate Obscura for chamber orchestra and cello, with soloist Inbal Segev—both of which feature Metropolis Ensemble and conductor Andrew Cyr—and the solo piano piece Colorful History, also performed by Andres. You can hear the third movement of Upstate Obscura, “Vanishing Point,” and pre-order the album here.