Andrew Cyr – Queen City Sounds and Art

Metropolis Ensemble, Erik Hall, Sandbox Percussion, photos courtesy the artists

Metropolis Ensemble’s Andrew Cyr, Erik Hall and members of Sandbox Percussion are set to release their version of Dutch composer Simeon ten Holt’s landmark 1976 piece Canto Ostinato via Western Vinyl on April 3, 2026. But for now you can take in an granular level of composition and energetic performance of the “Canto Ostinato Sections 74-87” from the newly rendered work. This portion of the recording highlights the dramatic, cinematic and expressive aspects of ten Holt’s original and the collaborators’ attention to the finer details of the performance that build from smaller components into a dynamic and nuanced, vibrant emotional whole with an ebb and a flow like life itself. What emerges in the listening is how the work allows for individual expression interweave with those of all the players in an organic manner that heightens the contributions of all into a larger whole like a collective, intuitive form of performance that strikes the listener in a similar fashion, a sort of collaborative feeling of a sense of something bigger. Listen to “Canto Ostinato Sections 74-87” on YouTube and follow the artists at the links below.