Postcards to The Met

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Project Overview

Witness a time-lapse musical performance of Matthew Evan Taylor’s original work in collaboration with musicians from Metropolis Ensemble and RAJAS Ensemble. This unique, year-long, monthly video co-commission (2021–22) with MetLiveArts, the performance series at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Metropolis Ensemble, produced and developed by Metropolis Ensemble.

Over the course of the year, these elements formed the creative inspiration for an evening-length work, Life Returns, culminating in a live performance of the completed composition on March 24, 2022. To date, the twelve films in Postcards to The Met have received over 350K views via Instagram.

Recent Press

News
Life Returns on WQXR
Concerts, Radio
Life Returns on WQXR
Concerts, Radio

Listen on-demand to Metropolis artists on WQXR’s Young Artists Showcase hosted by Emi Ferguson, including excerpts from Matthew Evan Taylor's Life Returns.

Concerts, Radio
Vermont Public: A Conversation with Matthew Evan Taylor
Interview, Concerts
Vermont Public: A Conversation with Matthew Evan Taylor
Interview, Concerts

“Middlebury College professor and composer Matthew Evan Taylor's "Life Returns" celebrates the coming of Springtime, and will have its digital premiere on February 14th.”

Interview, Concerts
ArtNet: Life Returns at The Met
Concerts
ArtNet: Life Returns at The Met
Concerts

MetLiveArts and the Metropolis Ensemble commissioned Life Returns, an evening-length composition from composer and saxophonist Matthew Evan Taylor.

Concerts
The Journey to Life Returns
Concerts
The Journey to Life Returns
Concerts

Witness a yearlong time-lapse musical performance of an original work by composer and saxophonist Matthew Evan Taylor.

Concerts
Middlebury Magazine: Sonic Art
Interview, Concerts
Middlebury Magazine: Sonic Art
Interview, Concerts

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.

Interview, Concerts

Project Details

  • Each month, Taylor sparked the musical dialogue by drafting the first layer of the composition. Working remotely, musicians from Metropolis Ensemble and the South Asian jazz collective RAJAS (“unlike any other on the scene,” New York Times) led by mridangam artist Rajna Swaminathan either respond to or build on that foundation.

    This twelve-part series—presented on IGTV on The Met’s Instagram account and Metropolis Ensemble’s website—offers an intimate, real-time view as Taylor and his partners explore African American, South Indian, and Western European musical practices.

  • Aaron Wolff

    Adam O'Farrill

    Andrew Cyr

    Ayane Kozasa

    Christopher Botta

    Dave Adewumi

    David Jacobs-Strain

    Emi Ferguson

    Evan Runyon

    Ganavya

    Juniper CreativeArts

    Kallie Sugatski

    Laura Andrade

    Luke Marantz

    Maria Grand

    Matthew Evan Taylor

    Miles Okazaki

    Paul Wiancko

    Pedro De Las Rosas

    Phong Tran

    Rajna Swaminathan

    Sam Kann

    Stephan Crump

    Terry Sweeney

    Utsav Lal

    Victor Cacesse

  • Postcards to The Met commissioned and produced by MetLiveArts, The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Department of Live Arts, bringing the Museum into conversation with contemporary creators and encouraging the discovery of untested modes of performance. This program is made possible by the Adrienne Arsht Fund for Resilience through Art.

    Artwork by Juniper Creative LLC, commissioned by Metropolis Ensemble (2021).