January 12, 2016 (7:30pm | doors 6:30pm)
(le) Poisson Rouge   |   158 Bleecker Street NYC

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Students: $15
Standing: $15
Table Seating: $20
VIP Opera Box: $35

with cellist Ashley Bathgate and Sleeping Giant

Metropolis Ensemble's latest Resident Artist Series project at (le) Poisson Rouge

Join cellist Ashley Bathgate in collaboration with the Brooklyn-based composer collective Sleeping Giant (Timo Andres, Chris Cerrone, Jacob Cooper, Ted Hearne, Robert Honstein, and Andrew Norman) as she premieres an entirely new series of reflections inspired by the Unaccompanied Cello Suites of J.S. Bach.

Throughout the twentieth century, composers such as Benjamin Britten, George Crumb, and Iannis Xenakis built upon the form established by Bach, expanding the instrument’s technical and sonic capabilities while paying homage to his legacy.

Sleeping Giant represents a young, stylistically diverse, and daring composer-collective well-suited to redefine the cello as a solo instrument. Each member of Sleeping Giant will compose one movement of the new suite, basing it loosely on a corresponding movement of their choice from the original Bach suites, but free to use the music as an inspiration for expressing and expanding his personal compositional voice.

Bach Unwound will incorporate extended performance techniques, live electronics, and external media resulting in a radical deconstruction and re-imagination of the original music. Collectively forming a single, concert-length work, this multi-composer collaboration will juxtapose contemporary and historical practice to create a new recital experience.

About the Series

The Resident Artist Series offers a platform for Metropolis Ensemble performing artists and composers to initiate and realize commissioning projects and produce concerts events, giving our core roster members unique opportunities collaborate with those who inspire them.

Bach Unwound, a commissioning project conceived by cellist Ashley Bathgate in collaboration with Sleeping Giant and Metropolis Ensemble, is the sixth concert in this series. To date, 36 new works have been commissioned and premiered as part of this series with pianist David Kaplan, harpist Bridget Kibbey, violinist Kristin Lee, composer Ricardo Romaneiro with new projects coming with pianist Conor Hanick (commissioning Elliot Cole), violinist Rachel Lee Priday and Matthew Aucoin, and percussionist Ian Rosenbaum.

Special thanks to June Wu and The June Wu Artist Fund, and Amy Kessler and Daniel Bertram for their major support of this season’s Resident Artist Series.

The June Wu Artist Fund

In 2011,The June Wu Artists Fund was established to honor the vision of Metropolis Ensemble board member June Wu and her passionate dedication to our community of composers and artists. The Artists Fund helped Metropolis launch our Resident Artist Series, among other artist-led creative and career-building endeavors, to more fully engage our mission to emerge the next generation of outstanding composers and musicians.

The Performer

Ashley Bathgate Cello

The Composers

Timo Andres Composer	Andrew Norman Composer	Jacob Cooper Composer
Chris Cerrone Composer	Robert Honstein Composer	Ted Hearne Composer
Johann Sebastian Bach Composer