Ruth Leon recommends… Life Returns – Matthew Evan Taylor

Life Returns – Matthew Evan Taylor
Over the course of 2021, MetLiveArts commissioned composer Matthew Evan Taylor for twelve “Postcards to The Met,” small sparks of collaborative inspiration that he developed remotely with members of the orchestral Metropolis Ensemble and South Asian jazz collective RAJAS.

These bite-sized pieces of music, which explored African-American, South Asian, and Western European musical practices, coalesced into “Life Returns,” a monumental evening-length work that melds free improvisation and through composition to celebrate resilience and triumph in the face of despair.

It features Matthew Evan Taylor on winds, with the Metropolis Ensemble conducted by Andrew Cyr. Rajna Swaminathan plays the mrudangam. I had to look it up too. It’s a percussion instrument associated with carnatic music from South India.

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