Metropolis Ensemble Official Website

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.

Native from San Juan, Argentina, JP Jofre is an award winning bandoneon player and composer. He has been repeatedly highlighted by the New York Times and praised as one of today’s leading artists by Great Performers at Lincoln Center. His music has been recorded by 16 times Grammy winner Paquito D’ Rivera, Orpheus Orchestra and Kathryn Stott. Jofre is a recipient of the National Prize of the Arts grant in Argentina, he has taken his form of contemporary Tango to some of the most important festivals around the world including Celebrity Series of Boston and Umbria Jazz Festival, among others. As soloist he has appeared with the San Antonio Symphony, San Diego Symphony and Argentina’s NSO to name a few. JP has also given lectures  at Google Talks, TEDtalks and The Juilliard School. He is currently writing two double concertos commissioned by clarinetist producer Sunny Kang and violinists Francisco Fullana and Michael Guttman co-commissioned by Classical Music Institute of San Antonio, Balearic Islands Symphony and Metropolis Ensemble. More at JPJofre.com

Hailing originally from Sasebo city, Nagasaki, Japan, Keita Ogawa is Grammy Award winner (as Snarky puppy member) and one of the most versatile and sought-after percussionist and drummer in New York City. He started his music career on drum set at the age of 15.

After performing regularly in Tokyo for several years, Keita decided to pursue his musical studies overseas. He was accepted into the prestigious Berklee College of Music in fall of 2005 where he studied with legendary musicians and educators Manuel “Egui” Castrillo, Jamey Haddad, Tito De Gracia, David Rosado, and Mark Walker. Seeking full immersion into the world of Brazilian percussion, Keita relocated to Rio de Janeiro for 3 months and studied with the some of the country’s most respected musicians- Jorginho do Pandeiro, Celsinho Silva, Kiko Freitas, and Marcio Bahia among others.

Since his arrival in America, Keita has worked with some of the biggest names in modern music including Yo-yo-ma, Assad Brothers, Charlie Hunter, Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra, Le Nubians, Romero Lubambo, Clarice Assad, Jaques Morelenbaum, Osvaldo Golijov, Eric Harland, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra and more. He also played and composed music called “Starting Five” with “J-Squad” (New York based 5 Japanese Jazz Musicians) for one of big National Japanese News TV Program called “Hōdō Station” since April 2016.

Currently he works several projects like, Snarky puppy, J-Squad, Banda Magda, Bokantè, Camila Meza and the Nectar Orchestra, Clarice Assad and more. Keita can virtually play any percussion instrument and musical style with fluency and unparalleled musicality. Despite his youth, he has set an example for the next generation of world-class musicians. Keita’s passion for crossing musical borders and uniting differences in cultures is a rare talent which he exhibits with a smile and an open heart.

Two time Latin Grammy nominee guitarist, educator, and composer João Luiz, began to play the popular music of his native Brazil professionally during his childhood and was later trained in classical guitar by his mentor Henrique Pinto. Winner of the 2006 Concert Artists Guild Competition as a member of the critically acclaimed Brasil Guitar Duo, João has performed extensively in the United States, Asia, Europe and Latin America. His versatility led him to be chosen to collaborate with Yo-Yo Ma and Carlos Prieto on a project to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Cuban composer Leo Brouwer in a landmark concert in Cuba in 2014.

As a performer and composer João is equally at home with classical, Brazilian and world music; his solo guitar, guitar ensemble and chamber music repertoire covers all the main works in the guitar literature from Dowland to Berio and Brazilian rhythms from Choro to Baião. For five years João also performed and recorded with the classical guitar quartet Quaternaglia, one of Brazil’s most important chamber music ensembles. Musicians such as Sérgio Abreu, Paulo Martelli, Fábio Zanon and Alice Artzt have also been very important in his development as a guitar player.

João’s interests include bridging Classical, Jazz, and Latin American music, and discovering ways to make classical music education more accessible to minorities. One of João’s favorite projects was writing the guitar methods for beginners, designing the guitar curriculum and training instructors for an important music education initiative for underprivileged children in São Paulo, Guri Santa Marcelina.

João made his debut at the Aspen Festival in July 2010 as a member of the Brasil Guitar Duo. Previous summers have included concerts at New York’s River to River Festival, The Gran Teton Music Festival, Chautauqua Institution, Bermuda Guitar Festival, Tirol’s Outreach Festival (Austria), and Two Moors Festival (UK). Recently featured New York City recital engagements include Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, NY Guitar Seminar at Mannes College, Symphony Space and New York Guitar Society. In addition, the duo has performed for the Orange County (CA) Performing Arts Center, Lied Center (University of Kansas), Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, University of Chicago, Spivey Hall, Montalvo Center for the Arts, Purdue University Convocations, Daytona Beach International Festival, Virginia Arts Festival, CityFolk Festival in Dayton, OH, the Santa Barbara Symphony’s Guitar Festival, the Miami Guitar Festival, the Asociacion Nacional de Conciertos in Panama City, Semana de La Guitarra in Colombia, and the Classical Guitar Societies of St. Louis, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Tucson and Upstate New York.

Spanish violinist Francisco Fullana, winner of the 2018 Avery Fisher Career Grant, has received international praise as a “rising star” (BBC Music Magazine), an “amazing talent” (maestro Gustavo Dudamel) and “a paragon of delicacy” (San Francisco’s Classical Voice). His playing has been described as “explosive” (Gramophone), “electric and virtuosic” (The Strad).

A native of Mallorca in the Balearic Islands of Spain, Francisco is making a name for himself as both a performer and a leader of innovative educational institutions. As an orchestral soloist he has performed the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with the Bayerische Philharmonie led by the late Sir Colin Davis, the Sibelius Concerto with the Münchner Rundfunkorchester, and the Brahms Violin Concerto with Venezuela’s Teresa Carreño Orchestra under the baton of Gustavo Dudamel. He has also soloed with the Vancouver, Pacific, Alabama, Maryland, Madrid Symphonies as well as the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and the Spanish Radio Television Orchestra, and has worked with such noted conductors as Hans Graf, Carlos Izcaray, Alondra de la Parra, Christoph Poppen, Jeannette Sorrell, and Joshua Weilerstein.

Active as a chamber musician, Francisco has participated in the Marlboro Music Festival and its Musicians from Marlboro tours, as well as Yellow Barn, the Perlman Music Program, the Da Camera Society, and the Music@Menlo, Mainly Mozart, Music in the Vineyards, and Newport music festivals. His musical collaborators have included Midori, Viviane Hagner, Nobuko Imai, Charles Neidich, Mitsuko Uchida, and members of the Guarneri, Juilliard, Pacifica, Takács, and Cleveland quartets. And among the many chamber music engagements on his upcoming schedule, Francisco is part of the Bowers Program at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.

Highlights of Francisco’s recent and upcoming orchestral engagements include debuts with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, Norwalk Symphony Orchestra, Castilla y León Symphony Orchestra, Oviedo Filarmonía, and Argentina’s National Orchestra. Also scheduled are return engagements with the Alabama, Balearic Islands, Extremadura, and Xalapa symphonies. Recital debuts this upcoming season also include the Phillips Collection and Palm Beach’s Kravis Center, as well as a tour of eastern China and Japan. Francisco’s ongoing collaboration with Argentinian bandoneonist/composer J.P. Jofre culminated with the world and European premieres of Jofre’s Concerto for Bandoneon and Violin No. 2, a work commissioned by the Balearic Islands Symphony, San Antonio Chamber Orchestra, and New York City’s Metropolis Ensemble.

Called the “Yo-Yo Ma of the harp,” by Vogue’s Senior Editor Corey Seymour, Bridget Kibbey is in demand for innovative, virtuosic programming. She is a winner of a prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant, a Salon de Virtuosi SONY Recording Grant, graduate of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Bowers Program, Premiere Prix at the Journées de les Harpes Competition in Arles, France, a winner of Concert Artists Guild, and the Juilliard School’s Peter Mennin Prize for Artistic Excellence and Leadership.

Season highlights include: Multiple tours of her own adaptations of J.S. Bach’s keyboard concerti alongside the Dover Quartet in the US and Canada, a ten-city duo collaboration with mandolinist Avi Avital, and various solo recitals around the United States. 

She premieres a new harp concerto with four American Orchestras – written by composer João Luiz Rezende  – exploring the evolution of the Brazilian popular dance forms on the harp…starting with the Orlando Philharmonic Orchesrtra, with Eric Jacobsen conducting 

Carnegie Hall presents her newest project, “Bach to Brazil” in its CityWide initiative next season. As a bandleader she performs this project alongside Latin-Grammy nominated percussionist Samuel Torres and clarinetist Louis Arques, celebrating NYC’s Nuevo Latino culture.

She has toured and recorded with luminaries Placido Domingo, Dawn Upshaw, and Gustavo Santaollalo for SONY Records and Deutsche Grammaphon; and, her own debut album, Love is Come Again, was named one of the Top Ten Releases by Time Out New York.

Ms. Kibbey’s NPR TinyDesk solo concert premieres in 2020, and her solo performances have been broadcast on NPR’s Performance Today, New York’s WQXR, WNYC’s Soundcheck, WETA’s Front Row Washington, WRTI’s Crossover, and on television in A&E’s Breakfast with the Arts. Most recently Bridget was named “Best in Studi” by WQXR for her performance of her own adaptation of J.S. Bach’s Toccata and Fugue, live on air. 

For specific touring dates and locations, please visit www.BridgetKibbey.com.

Louis Arques is a multifaceted clarinetist passionate about encounters, travels, nature and arts. Moving from France to the United States in Fall 2016, he has swiftly  become one of New York City’s in-demand soloists, orchestral musicians, chamber players and sidemen. In May 2018 he received his Master in music performance at the New School College of Performing Arts where he studied under the guidance of Charles Neidich and David Krakauer. 

Since he arrived in New York he started performing Afro-Cuban music in restaurants and clubs with numerous bands like Grupo Irek and Sonido Costeno. With the guitarist Richard Boukas he founded the Dialogos Brazilian Duo and they released a first album of Boukas’ compositions “Homage to the Brazilian Masters.” Jazz is everywhere in New York and it is for Louis synonym of cocktails and jam sessions with his Arques Jazz Trio featuring Nick Semenykhin on guitar and Joshua Marcum on double bass. You will even sometimes hear him sing in Jim Caruso’s Monday night show at Birdland.

A powerful communicator renowned for her musical scope and versatility, Brazilian American Clarice Assad is a significant artistic voice in the classical, world music, pop and jazz genres. A Grammy nominated composer, celebrated pianist and inventive vocalist, she is renowned for her evocative colors, rich textures, and diverse stylistic range. As an innovator, her award-winning Voxploration Series on music creation, songwriting and improvisation has been presented throughout the United States, Brazil, Europe and the Middle East. With her artistic talents sought- after by artists and organizations worldwide, the multi-talented musician continues to attract new audiences both onstage and off.

In the recording arena, Ms. Assad has released seven solo albums and appeared on or had her works performed on another 30. Her music is represented on Cedille Records, SONY Masterworks, Nonesuch, Adventure Music, Edge, Telarc, NSS Music, GHA, and CHANDOS Ms. Assad will have four recordings featuring her works released in 2019.

A prolific Grammy nominated composer with over 70 works to her credit, Clarice Assad’s numerous commissionsinclude works for Carnegie Hall, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Orquestra Sinfônica de São Paulo, Chicago Sinfonietta, San Jose Chamber Orchestra, the Boston Youth Orchestra, the Bravo! Vail Music Festival, Queen Reef Music Festival and the La Jolla Music Festival, to name a few. Her compositions have been recorded by some of the most prominent names in the classical music, including percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie, cellist Yo- Yo Ma, violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, and oboist Liang Wang. Assad’s music has been performed by internationally acclaimed orchestras, including the Philadelphia Orchestra, Tokyo Symphony, Queensland Symphony, and the Orquestra Sinfônica de São Paulo. Ms. Assad has served as a composer-in-residence for the Albany Symphony, the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, New Century Chamber Orchestra, and the Boston Landmarks Orchestra. Her works are published in France (Editions Lemoine), Germany (Trekel), Criadores do Brasil (Brazil) and by Virtual Artists Collective Publishing, (VACP) a publishing company co-founded with poet and philosopher Steve Schroeder. Ms. Assad is currently writing the soundtrack to Devoti Tutti, a documentary by Bernadette Wegenstein, while composing the music for a ballet by award-winning choreographer Shannon Alvis.

As a performer, Clarice has shared the stage with such artists as Bobby McFerrin, Anat Cohen, Nadia Sirota, PaquitoD’Rivera, Tom Harrell, Marilyn Mazur and Mike Marshall, among other outstanding musicians. She has performed at internationally renowned venues and festivals including The Netherlands’ Concertgebow, New York’s Carnegie Hall, Belgium’s Le Palais des Beaux-Arts, New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, Le Casino de Paris, Jazz at Lincoln Center and the Caramoor International Jazz Festival.

A passionate educator, in 2015 Ms. Assad founded VOXploration, an award-winning, trailblazing program which presents a creative, fun, and accessible approach to music education through meaningful, interactive experiences. Carefully curated to work equally well with participants of any age who have little music education or those having musical backgrounds, VOXploration has received grants and awards from Brazilian foundations such as CAIXA CULTURAL and SESC, as well as American grants from New Music USA and the McKnight Foundation. Ms. Assad has given masterclasses, residencies and workshops throughout the United States, Europe and Middle East.

Born in Rio de Janiero, Clarice Assad is one of the most widely performed Brazilian concert music composers of her generation. The recipient of numerous honors and awards, amongst them an Aaron Copland Award and several ASCAP awards in composition, Clarice Assad holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the Roosevelt University in Chicago, and a Master of Music degree from The University of Michigan School of Music.

Celebrated percussionist, composer and arranger, Samuel Torres was born in Bogota, Colombia. He has performed with a veritable “who’s who” of the jazz, Latin pop and salsa world, including such luminaries as Tito Puente, Paquito D’Rivera, Arturo Sandoval, Chick Corea, Alejandro Sanz, Ricky Martin, Don Byron, Richard Bona, Lila Downs, Jeff “Tain” Watts, Angelique Kidjo, Marc Anthony, Rubén Blades, Fonseca, Andrés Cepeda, Thalía, and his country’s own international superstar, Shakira. His talents have also been featured in concerts with classical orchestras such as Berlin Symphoniker, City of London Sinfonia, Boston Pops, Bogotá Philharmonic, Medellín Philharmonic, Delaware University Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Nashville Symphony.