The Metropolitan Museum of Art Announces New Electronic Music Performance Series SONIC CLOISTERS

The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Live Arts Department will premiere Sonic Cloisters, a virtual series of commissioned electronic music concerts filmed in the galleries and courtyards of The Met Cloisters, beginning on Wednesday, June 3. The first electronic music series at the Museum, Sonic Cloisters features four venerated producers from the diverse musical style commonly referred to as "Techno" music: Seth Troxler and Phil Moffa, appearing as Lost Souls of Saturn; Jlin; and Dubfire.

Each artist or pair of artists will present an exclusive, site-specific production inspired by The Met's medieval art collection and the singular architecture of the cloisters and gardens. The series is conceived by MetLiveArts in collaboration with Shawn Schwartz, founder of the famed Brooklyn electronic music venues Halcyon and Output. A new performance will digitally premiere every month through August and will be available on The Met's website and online channels, including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitch, where they will remain free and available to stream indefinitely.

"MetLiveArts has always engaged with performance artists who seek out opportunities to challenge themselves," said Limor Tomer, Lulu C. and Anthony W. Wang General Manager of Live Arts, "and Sonic Cloisters continues that tradition by inviting these brilliant musicians to broaden their artistic influence and creative process, placing art that is centuries old in dialogue with contemporary electronic music. These extraordinary producers and performers all bring their different identities and experiences to their music, a true realization of the progression of Techno as a global art form."

Schwartz added, "It is profoundly humbling and gratifying to commission work from these celebrated artists in contemporary electronic music knowing that it will be freely available to The Met's global online audience of art and culture enthusiasts. Through inclusion in a space usually reserved for traditional performing arts, this groundbreaking series by MetLiveArts represents a bold step in the recognition of Techno as an art form by major American institutions. Especially now, in the context of the global pandemic, the juxtaposition of Techno-understood as a reflection of modern urban decay and angst-with art inspired by the plagues of the Dark Ages, seems eerily relevant and darkly poignant."

Sonic Cloisters explores unexpected parallels between Techno and the art of the Middle Ages. Techno music emerged in Detroit's underground music scene amid the anxiety of the 1980s, and today, the spectrum of Techno music both facilitates communal euphoric experience and creates inner space for peace, reflection, and faith. Much like the medieval art that surrounds each performance, modern Techno expresses present-day anguish, expectation, and celebration, responding to inequity, suffering, and uncertainty with bright innovation and imagination.

"It has been tremendously exciting to see how these creative performers have responded to the evocative spaces and collections of The Met Cloisters," said C. Griffith Mann, the Michel David-Weill Curator in Charge of the Department of Medieval Art and The Cloisters. "Since the building itself is made up of different architectural elements, the remixing and layering of sounds finds surprising analogies and resonance within the distinct spaces of the Museum, which are drawn from disparate sources, regions, and time periods."

In conceptualizing their performances, the artists explored major symbols and themes from the collection in consultation with curators from The Met's Department of Medieval Art and The Cloisters. Each transformed a different space at The Met Cloisters according to their vision. Using mediums and methods from simple dramatic lighting to extended reality technologies, the artists created mesmerizing imagery to accompany the musical performances. The audio was captured live using three-dimensional ambisonic microphones that render the acoustics of the cathedral-like interiors in stunning detail, providing a pure and immersive sound experience.

Performance Schedule, Spring and Summer 2021:

Thursday, June 3, 9 p.m.

Performed in The Fuentidueña Chapel

Lost Souls of Saturn (Seth Troxler and Phil Moffa)

Thursday, July 8, 9 p.m.

Performed in The Romanesque Hall

JLin

Thursday, August 5, 9 p.m.

Performed in Pontaut Chapter House

Dubfire

Note: Performances will be filmed on days when the Museum is regularly closed to the public.