What began as an attempt by Matthew Evan Taylor to collaborate with fellow musicians during the isolation of the pandemic ended up being a yearlong project that culminated in an evening performance at the Met.

Composer and saxophonist Matthew Evan Taylor's Life Returns is an evening-length composition that draws on African American, South Indian, and European musical practices.

So, it was only fitting that for their 10th Anniversary this past Tuesday, Metropolis took over the Angel Orensanz Center on the Lower East Side for an ambitious party that offered free flowing wine and dozens of works, some performed simultaneously.

What makes “Brownstone,” as an evening-long event and as an individual piece of music, different is “that individual audience members have near total control over how they experience and hear the work,”

In the Upper East Side townhouse that the American Irish Historical Society calls home, a violinist ambled down the stairs while tuning her instrument and a harpist improvised with electronic sounds that came from the walls.

The New York-based ensemble, with roots in Maine, will perform at the Portland mansion on Oct. 3.

Metropolis Ensemble, a talented freelance orchestra, responded with skill and exuberance to Mr. Tan’s thrusting arms and clutching fingers.

What impressed most was the diversity of approaches that the composers involved took to stretching a more or less conventional chamber ensemble’s sound through electronic legerdemain.

“Pro Sound Effects is participating in a unique, location-specific music concert called Brownstone, conceived by the New York City-based chamber orchestra Metropolis Ensemble.”

Metropolis was really an umbrella group that brought together instrumental soloists, chamber ensembles, singers and a few composers for a benefit performance for Partners in Health.