Biophony Festival 2021

Sep 18

Our Inaugural Celebration

September 18, 2021 (1–4pm)
Brooklyn Botanic Garden — 990 Washington Ave

For our inaugural “pandemic-proof” Biophony event, 90+ musicians presented the newly commissioned works of 75 composers to create flexible, open-score pieces for outdoor performances. Visitors used a listening map to discover 22 “pods,” groupings of musicians planted throughout Brooklyn Botanic Garden's stunning 52-acre site.

Nearly 4,000 audience participants were given agency to interact and explore each work performed in a variety of lush topographies. Each performance and listener-experience of Biophony was unique, as determined by the unlimited flexibility of instrumentations, the topography of the site, and the freedom to choose their own musical adventure.

This event, presented for the first time as part of Make Music Autumn, was the grand finale of Metropolis Ensemble’s summer-long project where the orchestra-collective's musicians and composers created their own new music pop-up events across NYC.

Highlights on Instagram

Biophony Festival 2021 is made possible in part by the New York State Council on the Arts, New York City Cultural Affairs, The Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Foundation, The Blanchette Hooker Rockefeller Fund, and a constellation of generous donors and foundations, with additional support from Make Music New York and NYC Department of Transportation.