ETHEL and Friends is a music series lovingly programmed for “Date Night” at The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Great Hall at the Balcony Bar by The Met’s Resident Ensemble, ETHEL.
The Great Hall Balcony Bar “Date Night” Artists perform 2 sets on Fridays and Saturdays:
6 PM to 7 PM and 7:20 PM to 8:20 PM
ABOUT ETHEL
ETHEL is one of the most acclaimed ensembles in contemporary music. With an eye to tradition and an ear to the future, the quartet is a leading force in concert music’s re-engagement with musical vernaculars, fusing diverse performance practices into a vibrant, engaging sound. ETHEL and ETHEL members perform regularly and they welcome celebrated friends to the series–such luminaries as JP Jofre, Alexis Michelle, Kaki King, Allison Loggins-Hull and Raja Rahman.
ETHEL & FRIENDS SERIES CALENDAR
June 26th & June 27th
Raja Rahman, piano
Celebrated pianist Raja Rahman is a perennial Date Night favorite. The winner of the 2022 Nevada Arts Council Professional Artist Grant, Raja is active nationally and internationally as a soloist, chamber musician, and recording artist with the Sono Luminus label. Performing favorites from the repertoire, old and new.
July 3rd & July 4th
Lavinia Pavlish, Violin
Lavinia Pavlish (violinist of Balcony Bar regular Rock Paper Scissors) is a dynamic New York City–based violinist whose career spans orchestral, chamber, film, and television work. Music of Bach, Vivaldi, Bartók, and Farris.
July 10th & July 11th
Paper Cut
Lavinia Pavlish — violin
Ralph Farris — viola
Featuring ETHEL’s own Ralph Farris and violinist Lavinia Pavlish, Paper Cut brings together two-thirds of the celebrated trio Rock Paper Scissors for an intimate musical dialogue. Blending lyrical beauty with razor-sharp virtuosity, the duo explores music old and new with warmth, imagination, and an infectious spirit of discovery.
July 17th & July 18th
Booked by The Met
July 24th & July 25th
Rock Paper Scissors
Lavinia Pavlish — violin
Ralph Farris — viola
Titilayo Ayangade — cello
Celebrated for their wit, virtuosity, and irresistible onstage chemistry, Rock Paper Scissors brings its signature high-energy spirit to a program spanning centuries—from Bach and Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson to Skoryk.
July 31st & August 1st
DeShaun Gordon-King
DeShaun Gordon-King — flute
Flutist DeShaun Gordon-King transforms the Balcony Bar Café into a one-person sonic landscape, layering live flute, loops, and electronic tracks to create music that is immersive, spontaneous, and deeply expressive. Blending influences from jazz, gospel, classical, and contemporary sound worlds, his performances invite listeners into a vibrant journey of rhythm, texture, and imagination.
Stay tuned. More dates to be announced.
ETHEL at THE MET
ETHEL has been in Residence at The Met for over a decade– originally on the Balcony Bar, and for the past two years in the virtual realm, producing The Met’s celebrated “Balcony Bar from Home” series where the group presented weekly celebrations of ETHEL’s wide world of music, featuring collaborations with an extraordinary collection of guest artists from Svjetlana Bukvich to Jarrett & Raja; from Layale Chaker to Rhett Price; from Ron Carter to Todd Rundgren.
Visit ETHEL’s YouTube Channel, featuring a playlist of some of ETHEL’s classic BBfH offerings.
Here is a sampling:
