Emily Wells feat. Metropolis Ensemble - Stay Up

Emily Wells is a New York-based violinist, producer, and singer. In her own words:

My work bridges pop and chamber music and explores concepts around human relation to the natural world rooted in a love for both. I am interested in the ways performance and recordings influence one another and I work in both realms. At times I perform solo utilizing multiple instruments on stage (violin, synth, acoustic/electronic drums, voice), and at other times I perform with small orchestral ensembles. My work also interacts with my video practice through projection at performances which intersects imagery of contemporary dance, extreme weather and effects of climate crisis as well as protest footage from ACT UP.

Metropolis Ensemble has a unique process and dynamic not unlike those found in contemporary theatre and dance:

Metropolis Ensemble through its unique collaborative process, exists to support ascending contemporary classical performers and composers, often engaging them with other bleeding-edge cultural innovators and artists. Metropolis Ensemble events result through intense small group collaborations between its Resident Artists, Composers, and Artistic Director Andrew Cyr. These collaborations start with the initial conceptualization and don’t end until the last performance.

An agile, evolving collective of composers and performers, Metropolis Ensemble thrives in a state of creative flux. Resident Artists and Composers rotate in and out and eventually become Alumni; new talent is constantly brought in; every presentation’s concept and many venues are different; and most of Metropolis Ensemble’s music is new.

You can see Emily with the Metropolis Ensemble on Thursday, February 28th at House of Yes in Brooklyn. Here’s Stay Up from their upcoming album The World is Too ______ for You:

Also check out Emily and friends live in the studio on New Sounds.

Snow Day Links

As yet another winter storm heads across southern Ontario, here are some links to keep you occupied:

1. Are we in the midst of an Alban Berg renaissance? Two recent TSO performances showcasing Berg works got me thinking that there might be something in the air. A quick look at the Universal Editions Alban Berg schedule shows that this may indeed be the case, with 38 orchestral performances of his works between now and the end of June. This anecdote by Greg Sandow shows how Alban Berg’s music might be a viable entry point into classical music for younger audiences.

2. Sean Dorrance Kelly writes about how an AI can’t become a genuine artist, arguing that artistic achievement is a much larger idea than mere artificial intelligence:

We count Schoenberg as a creative innovator not just because he managed to create a new way of composing music but because people could see in it a vision of what the world should be. Schoenberg’s vision involved the spare, clean, efficient minimalism of modernity. His innovation was not just to find a new algorithm for composing music; it was to find a way of thinking about what music is that allows it to speak to what is needed now.

3. I really like the way that Penelope Trunk illustrates the Doppelgänger of authenticity and being true to yourself: negativity and mental health.

4. Tyler Cowen on the problem of social media:

My tentative conclusion from all this: Online life is inducing us to invest less in our memories and long-term sense of satisfaction. It is pretty obvious from human behavior that, right now, the internet is doing more to boost short-term pleasures.

The more negative take would be that online life is obscuring our understanding of our own lives. I do not go that far. After all, humans make analogous choices about balancing short- and long-term happiness when they have one child rather than four, or when they sit on an exercise bike rather than get on a plane to Paris. Those aren’t the wrong decisions for everybody.

5. Carl Pullein and Nicholas Bate both offer wise advice: say “no” more often. Your quality of work will improve.

6. From a conversation initiated by Shane Parrish on Twitter: sources of personal competitive advantage.

Finally, the Imani Winds play the second movement of Elliott Carter’s Woodwind Quintet:

(Image courtesy of Aaron Burden)

November with Aaron Parks and Ben Wendel

Some insightful collaboration and improvisation here: saxophonist Ben Wendel, as part of a project to create 12 duets in 2015, performs with pianist Aaron Parks on his eponymous 11th collaboration of the year. Classical musicians can learn a lot from this type of collaboration, notably how effective the high quality video and informality of the filming can be to showcase a collaboration, a time, a place, and most of all the music.

(Via Macsparky)