Forward Into Light — Album Launch Celebration
Live performance · Artist conversation · Sonoma Valley boutique wine tasting · Signed CD · Where Stradivaris live
Metropolis Ensemble | Music of Sarah Kirkland Snider
Date: March 3, 2027
Time: 7:00–8:00 PM (Doors open 6:45 PM)
Location: Tarisio, New York
Admission: FREE
All attendees receive a signed CD of Forward Into Light.
An intimate evening of live music, conversation, and wine at one of the most remarkable rooms in New York — Tarisio, the world's foremost rare instrument auction house, where Stradivaris and Guarneris have been played, studied, and entrusted to their next guardians.
Members of Metropolis Ensemble performed the original string quartet version of Drink the Wild Ayre — the final commission for the Emerson String Quartet's farewell tour, now reimagined for string orchestra and solo harp on Forward Into Light. The New York Times calls composer Sarah Kirkland Snider's music "rapturous." The Boston Globe calls it "groundbreaking." NPR: "ravishingly beautiful." The New Yorker praises her "unerring knack for breathtaking beauty."
Snider joined 6-time GRAMMY-winning engineer Silas Brown and Metropolis Artistic Director Andrew Cyr for a conversation about the making of the album.
Wine tasting courtesy of award-winning MIRO Cellars, Sonoma Valley.
The Evening’s Performing Artists
The ensemble was led by GRAMMY-winning violinist Henry Wang, who served as concertmaster on the album recording. He was joined by longtime Metropolis collaborators who also perform together as members of the internationally celebrated Calidore Quartet.
Wine tasting featuring MIRO Cellars
Guests will enjoy a curated tasting from MIRO Cellars, the acclaimed Sonoma Valley producer known for expressive, small-lot wines of exceptional depth and character. Like this recording, these wines reflect a philosophy of patience, balance, and uncompromising craftsmanship.
A singular setting: Tarisio’s rare instrument salon
Hosted by Tarisio, the world’s leading auction house for fine and historic string instruments, the evening unfolds in a refined salon surrounded by extraordinary violins and bows—objects of sound history that embody centuries of artistic lineage.
It is an environment of rare intimacy, perfectly aligned with the spirit of Sarah’s orchestra music.
The recording: defining the Metropolis Ensemble house sound
Recorded across the winter and spring and realized through months of painstaking artistic refinement, Forward Into Light was produced and engineered by one of the most accomplished teams working in classical recording today:
Silas Brown — 6-time GRAMMY-winning producer and engineer
Mike Tierney — 2026 GRAMMY-winning engineer
Charles Mueller — GRAMMY-winning engineer
Doron Schachter — GRAMMY-winning engineer
Ryan Streber — head engineer, Oktaven Audio
Wellington Gordon — recording engineer (Florida State University sessions)
Together, this team helped realize a recording of extraordinary clarity, depth, and emotional immediacy.
This album represents the Metropolis Ensemble philosophy at its most distilled:
recordings that do not merely document performance, but create a sonic environment of presence, transparency, and emotional truth.
Our house sound is defined by dimensional space, warmth without opacity, and a commitment to revealing the full expressive interior of the music—allowing contemporary works to resonate with the same permanence and authority as the great recordings of the past.
ABOUT MIRO CELLARS
Founded by acclaimed winemaker Miro Tcholakov, MIRO Cellars is a California boutique winery dedicated to expressive, small-lot wines that honor the individuality of exceptional vineyard sites. Drawing primarily from renowned regions including Dry Creek Valley, Russian River Valley, Chalk Hill, Alexander Valley, and Mendocino County, MIRO produces wines of remarkable depth, structure, and elegance.
MIRO’s philosophy centers on meticulous vineyard selection and restrained cellar intervention—allowing each wine’s natural character to emerge with clarity and balance. Their portfolio is especially celebrated for old-vine Zinfandels, nuanced Cabernet Sauvignons, and refined Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, all marked by vivid aromatics, layered complexity, and long, graceful finishes.
Consistently awarded Gold Medals and 90+ point scores from Wine Enthusiast, the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition, and international competitions, MIRO Cellars has earned a reputation among collectors and critics alike for crafting wines of authenticity, precision, and lasting distinction.
Like Metropolis Ensemble’s approach to music, MIRO Cellars combines technical mastery with artistic sensitivity—creating experiences that are at once immediate, expressive, and enduring.
ABOUT TARISIO
Founded in 1999, Tarisio is the world’s leading auction house dedicated exclusively to fine and rare string instruments and bows. With offices in New York, London, Berlin, and Milan, Tarisio serves an international community of musicians, collectors, foundations, and institutions, facilitating the sale and stewardship of instruments by history’s greatest makers, including Stradivari, Guarneri del Gesù, Guadagnini, and Vuillaume.
Tarisio has distinguished itself through its deep expertise, scholarly rigor, and commitment to transparency, helping redefine how historic instruments are valued, documented, and brought into the hands of today’s artists. Beyond auctions, Tarisio’s New York salon provides a refined environment where musicians and audiences can encounter these extraordinary objects firsthand—bridging centuries of craftsmanship with the living practice of performance.
As both a marketplace and cultural steward, Tarisio plays a vital role in preserving and advancing the legacy of string instrument artistry, ensuring that these instruments continue to inspire new generations of performers and listeners.
