This is a curated playlist by Chris Cerrone, featuring original music and inspired works from the next generation of composers and performers.

American Irish Historical Society
October 28, 2014

This site-specific electro-acoustic composition living art installation by Jakub Ciupinski will not only be performed this weekend, but it will be performed by Metropolis Ensemble through the historic, Victorian-era Kimball House at the Capitol Center for the Arts.

Northeast Tour
October 2014

“With its performers dispersed throughout the Olin Arts Center at Bates College, Metropolis presents the innovative site-specific piece Brownstone.”

Nina Simone's creepy-while-somehow-soothing voice is a perfect paint for the canvas that the string-heavy beat provides.

The angular melody, dissonant background strings and Simone’s nervous, vibrato-laden voice establishes a menacing presence.

It manages to balance its weird orchestra breakdown with a rather contemporary beginning and ending.

The composer and pianist Timo Andres’s take on the “Coronation” (otherwise known as the Piano Concerto No. 26 in D) felt necessary — not a lark but a surprisingly moving dazzler.

The Washington premiere Sunday of a bold new harp concerto capped an engaging and powerful performance of recent music by members of the Phillips Camerata, the resident ensemble of Washington’s Phillips Collection; the Quartet Senza Misura; and musicians from the New York-based Metropolis Ensemble.

The Phillips Collection
May 25, 2014

“Roots albums, no matter the landscape around them, always feel sturdy, firm—responsible, in the classic Gangstarr way.”

In “…And Then You Shoot Your Cousin,” The Roots prove their mastery of mixing high and low culture for diverse audiences. It’s a headier album, but one rife with significance.

“It’s a curious turn, but one that finds them as oddly whimsical and satisfying as ever.”

The musicians weren’t the same Roots band seen regularly on NBC’s “Tonight” show with Jimmy Fallon. They included the Metropolis Ensemble — the conductor Andrew Cyr, a string quartet and four singers — and the jazz pianist D. D. Jackson, who wrote dramatic, somberly dissonant arrangements for the ensemble.