Metropolis Ensemble: Brownstone
Not getting into Meredith Monk's performance at the White Lights Festival on Thursday did allow me to make my way over to Clinton Hill in time to catch that evening's Metropolis' Ensemble's concert, which took place in a Washington Ave. brownstone owned by board member Jennifer Salomon. Home shows are fairly common in NYC - I just went to a loft party in Williamsburg last week, and have been to David Lang's loft twice now - but in this case, the piece literally was the Brownstone.
As in: Jakub Ciupinski's Brownstone: a 20 minute electro-acoustic composition for ten musicians spread across all three floors of the house. In the end, it was more art installation than concert, reminding me of the amazing Happiness Project installation I saw during Pop Montreal last year, where local artists took over different rooms of a house and designed each of them according to a different track of Charles Spearin's album of the same name. I've always hoped someone would try to replicate that experience here in NYC, bringing with them that same sense of familiarity and warmth so often lost in the concert hall.
Before and after the performance, there was wine, food and conversation with the composer, musicians and Artistic Director Andrew Cyr, who seemed genuinely thrilled by the outcome (even if he had nothing to do during the performance.) Everyone seemed to congregate in the kitchen, which is where everyone always wants to hang out during house parties. And, in this case, performances. (More pics below.)