GatherNYC, the revolutionary weekly concert experience founded and directed by cellist Laura Metcalf and guitarist Rupert Boyd, announces the groundbreaking string quartet ETHEL as the second guest artist of its Spring 2022 season, held at the series' new home at Museum of Arts and Design (MAD). The performance takes place Sunday, May 1 at 11am, and also features a brief spoken word performance by storyteller David Lawson and a collective celebration of silence. The entire experience lasts one hour and evokes the community and spiritual nourishment of a religious service - but the religion is music, and all are welcome. Following this performance, the series will continue weekly on Sunday mornings through June 19.
For their appearance on this unique concert series, ETHEL has chosen a program entitled "Grace", about which they write:
"In every sense of the word, "Grace" provides effortless beauty and charm, goodwill, a favor, and a reprieve. In complex, stressful times, and in a world overwhelmed by seemingly irreconcilable differences and unsustainable challenges, music provides both an immediate tonic of relief and a medium for real, long-term healing and understanding. ETHEL has pursued this aspect of their art in many ways over the years, both in their own creative output, and in opening their hearts and skills to close collaboration with master artists from diverse cultures across the globe.
"The centerpiece of this program is ETHEL's own adaptation of Ennio Morricone's moving score to the 1986 film "The Mission." Morricone's score was nominated for an Academy Award in 1986 and won the Golden Globe for Best Original Score. The film deals with cross-cultural complexities fueled by the quest for redemption against the backdrop of the jungles of South America. Favorite ETHEL composers and collaborators
Mary Ellen Childs and
Marcelo Zarvos, along with original music by members of ETHEL, and selections from
Philip Glass' score to the 2002 film, "The Hours" (another legendary Academy Award nominee), round out the program with works both searching and deeply joyful."
About ETHEL:
Established in New York City in 1998, ETHEL quickly earned a reputation as one of America's most adventurous string quartets. More than 20 years later, the band continues to set the standard for contemporary concert music. Known for its enlivened playing, blending uptown, conservatory musicianship with downtown genre-crossing, ETHEL has been described as "indefatigable and eclectic" (The New York Times), "vital and brilliant" (The New Yorker), and "infectiously visceral" (Pitchfork). Since its inception, ETHEL has released nine feature recordings (one of them nominated for a Native American Music Award), performed as guests on 40+ albums, premiered 225 new works, won a GRAMMY® with jazz legend
Kurt Elling, and performed in 14 countries, 45 states, and 250 cities.
ETHEL is the Resident Ensemble at The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Balcony Bar, Ensemble-in-Residence at Denison University, 2019-20 Creatives-in-Residence at the Brooklyn Public Library, and most recently the 2018-19 Quartet-in-Residence at Kaufman Music Center's Face the Music, and 2019 Levi Family Distinguished Visiting Artist at The Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University.
ETHEL is
Ralph Farris (viola),
Kip Jones (violin),
Dorothy Lawson (cello), and Corin Lee (violin).
