Sarah Kirkland Snider: Forward Into Light
Metropolis Ensemble collaborated with composer Sarah Kirkland Snider and Grammy-winning producer Silas Brown to record her acclaimed orchestral works.
Debut Orchestral Recordings of Sarah Kirkland Snider
Metropolis Ensemble collaborated with “one of new music’s leading names” (Gramophone), composer Sarah Kirkland Snider and Grammy-winning producer Silas Brown (The Blind Banister, Liquidverse) to record Sarah's acclaimed orchestral works.
WATCH: Sarah shares her influences and composition process ahead of her previous album, Unremembered.
Co-release: Nonesuch Records × New Amsterdam Records
Performed and recorded by Metropolis Ensemble
Artistic Director / Conductor: Andrew Cyr
Album Release: February 27, 2026
Pre-release single (“Forward Into Light”): December 4, 2025
Forward Into Light is composer Sarah Kirkland Snider’s fifth full-length album and her first all-orchestral LP. Recorded by the GRAMMY-nominated Metropolis Ensemble under Andrew Cyr and produced by multi-GRAMMY-winner Silas Brown overseeing an award-winning team that included Mike Tierney and Charles Mueller, the album features four major orchestral works spanning themes of perseverance, memory, and renewal.
Works on the Album
Forward Into Light — Commissioned by the New York Philharmonic, inspired by the American women’s suffrage movement.
Drink the Wild Ayre — New version for string orchestra + harp (Noël Wan), adapted from Snider’s final commission for the Emerson String Quartet.
Eye of Mnemosyne — A multimedia orchestral meditation on memory and innovation, commissioned by the Rochester Philharmonic.
Something for the Dark — A work on resilience, commissioned by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra following Snider’s Lebenbom Award.
About the Album
Snider — described as “one of new music’s leading names” (Gramophone) — crafts music of emotional immediacy and immersive detail. Recorded in close collaboration with Metropolis Ensemble across eight months of tracking and mixing sessions, this album was designed for 21st-century listeners, with production approaches that maximize clarity, intimacy, and dimensionality (including Dolby Atmos and Spatial Audio).
“At Metropolis, the studio is another stage,” says Cyr. “Recording is its own artistic medium — a way to bring the listener closer to the music, detail by detail.”
Previous Albums
Snider’s earlier LPs—The Blue Hour, Mass for the Endangered, Unremembered, and Penelope—have received widespread critical acclaim from The New York Times, NPR, The Boston Globe, Washington Post, Pitchfork, Gramophone, and others.
Special thanks to: Florida State University College of Music and Dr. Gregory Jones; Aaron Copland Recording Fund; Metropolis musicians, supporters, and Board of Directors; David Bither and Nonesuch Records; William Brittelle, Judd Greenstein, and New Amsterdam Records; Christina Jensen; Kate Gilmore; Steven Mackey; Kit Snider; Matthew Strassler; Paul Kovach; Eric Brewster; Henry Wang; Steven Brown; and Stephanie Woodsworth.
Drink the Wild Ayre (2024) — for harp and strings
A re-imagining of a 2023 string-quartet commission (written for the Emerson String Quartet’s final season), this version for harp and strings moves between exuberance, mystery, rhythm, and lyricism. The title nods to Ralph Waldo Emerson’s line—“Live in the sunshine / swim the sea / drink the wild air’s salubrity”—and to the old word ayre: a song-like, lyrical piece. Its lilting, asymmetrical phrases, and the dialogue between harp and strings, celebrate the questing spirit and collaborative openness that keep musicians creating together for a lifetime.
Eye of Mnemosyne (2024) — multimedia orchestral work
Commissioned by the Rochester Philharmonic to mark the orchestra’s centennial—founded by photography pioneer George Eastman—this collaboration with visual artist Deborah Johnson explores how memory, innovation, and culture refract through the lens of photography. The “Kodak Girls” become modern muses—avatars of independence and creativity during photography’s golden age—set against the mythic backdrop of Mnemosyne, the Greek goddess of memory.
The piece unfolds in eight movements:
Prelude: Eye of Mnemosyne — opening the lens of memory.
Mnemonic: Wheel of the Muses — creativity emerges as cultural force; the Kodak Girls as modern muses.
Mori: Memory of the Dead — from mourning portraits to the posed smile.
Vive: Power of the Snapshot — portable cameras democratize memory.
Memento: Defense Against Time — the family album as personal archive.
Nostos: War Story — images bridging home and front lines in WWI.
Ephemera: Fragmented Memory — photographs age; meaning persists.
Psyche (Epilogue): Lens of Nostalgia — returning to Mnemosyne’s gift.
Something for the Dark (2015) — for orchestra
Commissioned by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (via the Elaine Lebenbom Award), this piece considers resilience through the prism of Detroit. A bold, youthful brass gesture of hope meets real tests: it is humbled, re-formed into a delicate flute/harp/celeste tune, and then weathered by surges and undertow. What remains at the end is clear-eyed and steady—a quieter, truer endurance.
The title comes from Philip Levine’s poem “For Fran,” where preparing winter beds becomes a promise of renewal: “Out of whatever we have been / We will make something for the dark.”
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Composer: Sarah Kirkland Snider
Metropolis Ensemble
Andrew Cyr, artistic director/conductor
Produced by: Silas Brown and Andrew Cyr
Engineered by: Silas Brown, Wellington Gordon, Charles Mueller, Mike Tierney, Doron Schachter, and Ryan Streber
Mixed by: Silas Brown; Silas Brown and Mike Tierney (Drink the Wild Ayre)
Mastered by: Silas Brown/Legacy Sound
Recorded at: Drew University, FSU College of Music, Field Notes, Sandbox Percussion, Oktaven Audio (January-June, 2025)
Metropolis Ensemble
Andrew Cyr, artistic director/conductor
Engineers: Silas Brown, Wellington Gordon, Charles Mueller, Mike Tierney, Doron Schachter, and Ryan Streber
Mix: Silas Brown, Mike Tierney (Drink the Wild Ayre)
Master: Silas Brown
Graphic Design: David (D.M.) Stith
Cover Art: Anja Schutz
Special Thanks: Florida State University College of Music, Drew University, Kate Gilmore, Matthew Strassler, Paul Kovach, Eric Brewster, Aaron Copland Recording Fund, Henry Wang, Dr. Gregory Jones, William Brittelle, Judd Greenstein, Steven Brown
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Forward Into Light
Drink the Wild Ayre
Solo Harp: Noel Wan
Eye of Mnemosyne
Prelude: Eye of Mnemosyne
Mnemonic: Wheel of the Muses
Mori: Memory of the Dead
Vive: Power of the Snapshot
Memento: Defense Against Time
Nostos: War Story
Ephemera: Fragmented Memory
Psyche (Epilogue): Lens of Nostalgia
Something for the Dark
The Promise
Of Rise and Renewal
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Piccolo/Flute
Yoobin Son
Oboe/English Horn
Noah Kay
Clarinet
Yoonah Kim
Bass Clarinet
Barret Ham
Bassoon/Contrabassoon
Brad Balliett
French Horn
Leelanee Sterrett
Trumpet
Christopher Colletti
Melissa Munoz
Trombone
Burt Mason
Bass Trombone
Daniel Schwalbach
Tuba
Deandre Desir
Timpani
Terry Sweeney
Percussion
Jonny Allen
Victor Caccese
Terry Sweeney
PianoHan Chen
Harp
Noel Wan
Violin
Henry Wang, concertmaster
Lydia Hong
Pauline Kim
Siwoo Kim
Kristin Lee
Sami Merdinian
Jeffrey Meyers
Eric Silberger
Viola
Jeremy Berry, principal
Hannah Burnett
En-Chi Cheng
Kevin Hsu
Tanner Menees
Caeli Smith
Cello
Estelle Choi, principal
Ari Evan
Jia Kim
Andrew Janss
Brook Speltz
Eliana Yang
Contra Bass
Ha Young Jung, principal
Alex Bickard
Satoshi Okamoto
Andrew Trombley
Sarah Kirkland Snider
Composer Sarah Kirkland Snider writes music of direct expression and vivid narrative that has been hailed as “rapturous” (The New York Times), “groundbreaking” (The Boston Globe), and “ravishingly beautiful” (NPR). Recently named one of the “Top 35 Female Composers in Classical Music” by The Washington Post, Snider’s works have been commissioned and/or performed by the Boston Symphony Orchestra; Chicago Symphony Orchestra; Cleveland Orchestra; Detroit Symphony Orchestra; National Symphony Orchestra; New York Philharmonic; San Francisco Symphony; Philharmonia Orchestra; Melbourne Symphony Orchestra; Toronto Symphony Orchestra; Residentie Orkest; Birmingham Royal Ballet; Emerson String Quartet; Renée Fleming and Will Liverman; Deutsche Grammophon for mezzo Emily D’Angelo; percussionist Colin Currie; eighth blackbird; A Far Cry; and Roomful of Teeth, among many others. More»
Mike Tierney
Mike Tierney is a Brooklyn-based audio engineer and producer. His work has garnered seven Grammy nominations, including for Best Engineered Album, Classical. He has worked with a wide range of groups and genres, pulling from a diverse taste and experience to bring a unique musicality to each project. Regardless of whether he is producing or engineering, his goal is to highlight the emotions that the song is trying to convey with a concise aesthetic. More»
Silas Brown
Silas Brown is a New York City area producer, engineer, and mastering engineer specializing in classical and jazz recordings. He has more than 20 years of production credits, including many Grammy winning and nominated recordings. He was awarded Grammys in 2014 as producer of the Evelyn Glennie / Albany Symphony recording of Corigliano’s Conjurer (Best Soloist Performance with Orchestra) and in 2011 as mastering engineer on the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s Verdi Requiem recording (Best Classical Album). In 2017, he was nominated in the Best Engineered Album, Classical category for Shadow of Sirius. More»
Noël Wan
Lauded as “a huge talent with hidden power and amazing maturity” (Bart van Oort) and “not [a harpist] to be slept on” (The Globe and Mail), Taiwanese-Canadian-American Noël Wan 萬依慈 commands a remarkably fresh creative voice, bridging charismatic artistry and intellect in her work as an international prize-winning solo harpist and interdisciplinary scholar.Acclaimed as a soloist, she has performed throughout Europe, Asia, and North America, including as an Atlantic Debut Touring Artist and at Carnegie Hall, Taiwan Performing Arts Center, het Muziekgebouw aan t’IJ, Yellow Barn Summer Music Festival, and Bard Music Festival. She recently gave debut solo recitals in Chicago, Hong Kong, and China and will make her New Zealand debut in 2026. More»
Andrew Cyr
GRAMMY-nominated conductor Andrew Cyr is a leader in the rapidly growing contemporary music scene. His enthusiasm for connecting the outstanding musicians and composers of the new generation to today's audiences led him to create Metropolis Ensemble in 2006.
Through passionate performances, innovative programming, the fostering, commissioning, and advocacy of emerging composers and performers, and leading a wide variety of community engagement and education initiatives, Cyr displays the scope and potential of today's freshest voices in composition and performance to attract and inspire new and diverse audiences. More»
Meet the Artists
