Amplifying the Great Hall: ETHEL and Friends

ETHEL in the Great Hall Balcony Bar. Photograph by Stephanie Berger

«I am far from the first person to notice a more leisurely atmosphere at the Met on Friday and Saturday nights. Many find it less crowded, with the usual flurry of activity waning by 5:00 p.m. (the Museum remains open until 9:00 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays). The evening hours at the Museum attract a different crowd—those more willing to lose themselves in the galleries, shedding the visitor maps for a more exploratory approach to museum going.»

There's a sense of calm and intimacy that settles into the building, and it begins as soon as you walk in the doors: ETHEL and Friends can be found perched on the Balcony Bar every weekend, bringing live music and adding a subtle layer of elegance and warmth to the Great Hall. An acclaimed New York City–based quartet, ETHEL has been performing at the Balcony Bar since fall 2012, as part of an initiative by General Manager of Concerts & Lectures Limor Tomer to refresh the bar's music scene, which had traditionally only featured classical music.

Formed in 1998, ETHEL's founding members, Dorothy Lawson (cello) and Ralph Farris (viola), still lead the ensemble. When the quartet began performing at the Met two years ago, it also marked the start of violinists Tema Watstein and Kip Jones's tenure with the ensemble.

"We're a really fun group. There's a 'band' feeling to us right now," Farris recently said.

As their repertory evolved over the past sixteen years and their reputation as one of the most vibrant quartets on the scene solidified, the addition of their current "fiddlers" (as Farris calls Watstein and Jones) brought what Farris deems a freshness and joy of music making—but with the necessary experience, too. "They have a joy, exuberance, and energy, although Dorothy and I have a lot of energy already!" he laughed.

And when ETHEL is off touring, that is where the "and Friends" portion of the series' title comes in—presenting other ensembles that are similarly innovative and perform cutting-edge repertory. "These are people from my musical world," said Farris, "people we perform and tour with; bands we share personnel with. We're lucky to be living in the center of a dynamic and diverse musical ecosystem with musicians from so many different disciplines and types of music, all crossing genre boundaries and sitting in with each other's ensembles. They are friends, colleagues, and friends of our friends."

The style of music varies, from contemporary tango to Mozart, but the performers, above all, are tasked with translating the music into a specific space such as the Met. Beautiful yet complex, the same arches that make the Great Hall such an architectural stunner can also be an auditory challenge.

"We have found that flutes, pianos, and higher string instruments like violins and cellos sound great, and that basses don't carry at all," said Farris. "There are interesting acoustical tricks going on."

Having begun their third season at the Met, ETHEL will be performing together several times throughout the fall. Additionally, there will be a couple of Balcony Bar debuts this October and November: the new-music ensemble Pipeline Collective, and the exciting Mexican fiddling group Villalobos Brothers. Always featuring an ever-changing lineup of performers, be sure to check out all of the upcoming ETHEL and Friends performances this fall.