Biophony SoundGarden 2023
An Immersive Soundbath Experience
by Ricardo Romaneiro
February 11–12, 2023
Brooklyn Botanic Garden — 990 Washington Ave
10:30am–3pm ongoing
Audiovisual experience with plant-generated and interactive musical elements
10:30am / 11:30am / 1:30 / 2:30pm
Live concurrent performances in Conservatory pavilions
Biophony: SoundGarden is a site-specific commissioning project by Metropolis Ensemble and Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Banner image by Phong Tran (2023).
Electronics
Created by composer Ricardo Romaneiro with Metropolis Ensemble for Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s conservatories, Biophony: SoundGarden is an audiovisual tapestry (sound design by Leo Leite) and lighting installation (light design by Dominic Chang).
Plants
The installation runs in-sync with plant-generated binaural soundscapes and groupings of live musicians situated in each conservatory ecosystem.
Artists
Metropolis composers and performers worked alongside Ricardo Romaneiro and the gardeners and curators at Brooklyn Botanic Garden to develop this piece.
Explore the Locations
About the Experience
Here’s what you can expect as you move through the installation at Brooklyn Botanic Garden.
Listening to Plants
Explore how plants connected to PlantWave devices can translate their biorhythms into sound.
Science of Soundbath
Discover what happens when you stimulate your brainwaves through sound and color therapy.
Metropolis Kids
Get a hands-on interactive experience making music with plants. Fun for the entire family!
About the Composer
Ricardo Romaneiro was born and raised in Sao Paulo, Brazil and moved to the U.S. at an early age. A graduate of The Juilliard School in composition, Ricardo’s music synthesizes his major musical influences and passions: classical music and electronic music. The New York Times described his work as “a blissful and compelling mix of Minimalist-derived rhythmic ecstasy and nightclub beats.” Ricardo is the co-founder of an audiovisual studio called SUBHAZE, creating immersive concerts, festival installations with an array of artists, brands, ensembles, and venues that transcends the traditional forms of presentation experience. More »
About the Artistic Director / Producer
A champion of new work, Grammy-nominated conductor Andrew Cyr has led premiere performances at venues ranging from Cité de la Musique (Paris, FR), The Met Museum, Celebrate Brooklyn(!), Kimmel Center’s Verizon Hall, New Victory Theatre, Hamer Hall (Melbourne, AU), Radio City Music Hall, BAM’s Howard Gilman Opera House, and The Tonight Show. Cyr's work as conductor has been described by Esa-Pekka Salonen as "precise, rhythmically incisive and fluid; he made complex new pieces sound natural and organic.” Cyr’s passion for creating new platforms for outstanding composers and performing artists led him to found Metropolis Ensemble in 2006. More »
