Metropolis Ensemble

Metropolis Ensemble is a dynamically evolving 21st Century Orchestra. Dedicated to creating a future for classical music that is of and for the time we live in, Metropolis Ensemble’s driving force is its founder, Grammy-nominated conductor Andrew Cyr (“a prominent influence in the world of newly emerging music”, The Washington Post). Described by the New York Times as a ‘vibrant collective”, Metropolis Ensemble exists to support ascending contemporary classical performers and composers, often engaging them with other bleeding-edge cultural innovators and artists through its unique collaborative process. Frequently collaborating with artists who defy classification, such as Questlove, Justin Vernon, Wye Oak, Emily Wells, Ragnar Kjartansson, and the collective 37d03d “PEOPLE”, Metropolis has been presented by Lincoln Center’s Out of Doors and American Songbook series, BAM’s Next Wave Festival, The Met, Hollywood Bowl, Creative Time, Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute, The Wordless Music Series, Celebrate Brooklyn(!), The New Victory Theatre, (le) Poisson Rouge, Ecstatic Music, The Phillips Collection, and The Tonight Show. Metropolis Ensemble has won national and international recognition for its seven studio recordings, including winning Canada’s prestigious Juno Award for Best Classical Composition in 2013. In 2010, Metropolis Ensemble received its first Classical Grammy Award Nomination and in 2014, producer David Frost received a Classical Producer of the Year Grammy Award for work that included Metropolis Ensemble’s album of Brooklyn-based composer Timo Andres, recorded at Tanglewood’s Ozawa Hall and released on Nonesuch Records. Last season, Metropolis Ensemble released two new studio albums, on Nonesuch Records (with New Amsterdam Records) and on Thesis/Instinct, featuring the music of William Brittelle (with Wye Oak and the Brooklyn Youth Chorus) and Emily Wells. In 2019, Metropolis performed at BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! in Prospect Park and made its debuts at Sounds from A Safe Harbour (Cork, Ireland), EAUX CLAIRE HIVER and the Pablo Center, and Brooklyn’s new Public Records. This season, in addition to a vibrant season of 25+ anticipated concerts and collaborations at 1 Rivington, Metropolis Ensemble was recently on tour in Ireland as part of the indie-festival, Sounds from a Safe Harbour in September and in residence in October at Mass MoCA developing a new opera by Christopher Cerrone (with Stephanie Fleischmann, librettist and Mary Birnbaum, director). In November, Metropolis Ensemble will be in residence at the festival EAUX CLAIRES HIVER in Eau Claire, WI, creating new arrangements from Prince’s trove of unpublished archive of songs, with composer William Brittelle as part of the collective 37d03d. In December, Metropolis Ensemble’s chamber orchestra will make its debut at Kaufmann’s Ecstatic Music Festival, joining the all-female quartet LADAMA in accompanying Guatemalan-born singer-songwriter Gaby Moreno (composer of theme music to Parks and Recreation and multiple Latin Grammy artist), on her collaborative project with Nonesuch with American musician, songwriter, arranger and producer Van Dyke Parks. In January, will return to (le) Poisson Rouge for a concert of new commissions from South American composers and in April, Metropolis Ensemble will perform in a dynamic collaboration with Arcade Fire’s symphonic music project, Bell Orchestra. Equally dedicated to making a difference in our local community, Metropolis Ensemble also runs an ambitious education program teaching music composition and creativity to over 400 middle-school children across four NYC boroughs in collaboration with the Young Composers and Improvisers Workshop and Kaufman Music Center’s ComposerCraft. Metropolis Ensemble is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization founded in 2006.