Wet Ink

An emerging composer commissions program

Paramount to the Metropolis Ensemble's mission is the fostering the compositional abilities of the next generation of composers. The Wet Ink Emerging Composer Program is an unparalleled opportunity for a young composer to hone her craft; develop relationships with the leading professional musicians of the current generation; have numerous professional performances of her work over the course of a season; gain exposure to the public, music critics, producers, and the music community at large.

The versatile nature of the Metropolis Ensemble means that an emerging composer can exercise her talent in a large variety of genres and styles. Because of the public nature of the Ensemble, there is also the possibility, depending on funding, of having her works recorded and distributed. These recordings can be used in applying for grants, commissions, festivals, or advanced degree programs. Wet Ink gives emerging voices professional exposure rarely enjoyed by young composers and can serve as a unique launching point for a composer's career.

Wet Ink is the second phase of our unique two-year composer mentor and teaching fellowship program. In the first year, the composer selected leads our Youth Works program at PS 11, teaching music composition and creativity to children of elementary school age. Learn more about Youth Works...

Ryan Francis - Digital Sustain

We have commissioned a new work from current Wet Ink fellow Ryan Francis to be premiered during our next season. About his commission, Mr. Francis writes:

The piece I have proposed to write is a work for piano solo and ensemble. This is a particularly exciting prospect for me as I have been waiting for an opportunity to composer a chamber piano 'concerto' for several years now, and my commission from Metropolis Ensemble was just the opportunity I needed to make it happen. I am currently working on a set of piano etudes that scheduled to be premiered later this year, and I intend to use several of these etudes as springboards for material in my Metropolis commission, by exploding the concepts of the solo pieces onto a larger ensemble.

I should stress that the new piece will in no way constitute an arrangement of pre-existing solo works, but will merely address similar musical ideas on a larger level. One etude, for example, is a study on the sostenuto pedal, with a sustained chorale superimposed over a manic staccato melodic contour. The effect is similar to that found in intelligent dance music or "IDM," as it is commonly referred to as. The limits of textural polyphony that the piano presents can be easily transcended with the addition of the ensemble, and I hope to write a movement that explodes the basic principle of the etude.

The wild variety of ideas and styles I am exploring in my etudes should provide a truly dynamic and exciting palate for my concerto, and I expect that the work will be one of the most ambitious I have attempted to date.

Listen to an excerpt from Mr. Francis' Digital Sustain:

Download a score excerpt (PDF)...