Brownstone
About the Work
Brownstone (2010/2021) was originally a site-specific electro-acoustic composition/ installation by Jakub Ciupinski (2010 Metropolis Ensemble commission) and performed throughout an entire three-story Brooklyn brownstone. In the original, musicians were scattered throughout all three floors while audience members freely wandered, explored, and choosing their own experience of the piece. The source material for the electronic music layer was derived from the BBC Nature Sound Effects Library, provided by Pro Sound Effects. In this new version for Biophony, instruments will be spread out throughout an outdoor area in nature, but remain within earshot from one to the other, with sounds from the natural environment replacing the electronic track. Metropolis Ensemble’s Biophony project and platform was in part inspired by this piece.
—Andrew Cyr, founder/ artistic director of Metropolis (September 2, 2021)