«The spring season of Met Museum Presents is ambitious and wide-reaching. We are going deeper into our exploration of the Museum's collection and pushing the boundaries of time-based art, installation art, and the scope of our new commissions. Here's just a selection of the many exciting events ahead.»
Left: Theo Bleckmann. Photo by John Labbé. Right: Jóhann Jóhannsson. Photo courtesy of the artist
An Artist's Take on Death Becomes Her
Theo Bleckmann: Songs in the Key of D
Inspired by the Costume Institute's fall exhibition, Death Becomes Her: A Century of Mourning Attire, composer and vocalist Theo Bleckmann has curated an evening of songs about dying, death, mourning, and transcendence. On February 7, Bleckmann will perform with Henry Hey on piano, Matt Moran on vibraphone, and Zach Danziger on drums (and samples). Like the exhibition, this performance elevates the serious themes of death and mourning to a place of heartfelt devotion and intimacy.
In and about The Temple of Dendur
Drone Mass
Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson, American Contemporary Music Ensemble, and the 2014 Grammy Award–winning vocal ensemble Roomful of Teeth perform a contemporary oratorio on March 17, realized in the Met's magnificent Temple of Dendur in The Sackler Wing. Drone Mass weaves together strings, electronics, and texts based on the Coptic Gospel of the Egyptians.
La Celestina rendering courtesy of Erratica
Free with Museum Admission, and Entirely Groundbreaking
La Celestina
A video opera created specifically for the Vélez Blanco Patio, La Celestina is a dramatic musical event that engages the Met's exquisite sixteenth-century sculptures inhabiting the gallery. The art itself will tell this tragic story while accompanied by audio and video instillations and projections—all for free (with Museum admission), during Museum hours, from March 20–29.
A Premiere Not to Be Missed
The News
The News is a multimedia reality opera crafted from news broadcasts and set to a score by the brilliant composer JacobTV. A fresh musical experience, the performances on April 17 and 18 mark the opera's New York premiere and the unveiling of the work's specifically New York edition.
The Civilians performed Let Me Ascertain You, a cabaret-style evening of theater, in the Petrie Court Café in September. Photo by Stephanie Berger
Artist in Residence Takeover
The Way They Live
The Way They Live is the final work by the 2014–15 Artists in Residence, The Civilians—two evenings (May 15 and 16) of live theater directly inspired by the Met's American Wing, its curators, and investigative interviews with visitors.
The Holy Visions was performed in the Medieval Sculpture Hall in 2013 as part of the daylong Zorn at the Met celebration. Photo by Maureen Coyle
Exploring New Spaces
John Zorn's Sacred Visions
The wildly inventive composer and musician John Zorn has created a performance specifically for the Fuentidueña Chapel at The Cloisters, which includes the world premiere of The Remedy of Fortune for New York–based JACK Quartet. After a successful daylong takeover of the Met's Main Building last season, Zorn will explore the soundscapes of The Cloisters on May 30.
Digital Experimentation and Innovation
The Return
An interactive installation by Reid Farrington that celebrates the groundbreaking restoration of Tullio Lombardo's Adam (ca. 1490–95), this revolutionary interactive work invites visitors to dynamically investigate the conservation project. This July, hidden cameras, speakers, and microphones will allow visitors to communicate with unseen video puppeteers who lead them through the work's extraordinary story, using a digital "window" into the gallery during Museum hours.
To purchase tickets to any Met Museum Presents event, visit www.metmuseum.org/tickets; call 212-570-3949; or stop by the Great Hall Box Office, open Monday–Saturday, 11:00 a.m.–3:30 p.m.