Praise for The Hevreh Ensemble - Produced by Ralph Farris

Here’s what critics are saying about The Hevreh Ensemble’s recent release A Path of Light, produced by Ralph Farris:

“this album belongs on the shelf next to your Silk Road Ensemble records.” - American Record Guide (Sep/Oct 2019 issue)

“stunning moments…intimate and singularly fascinating.” - American Record Guide (Sep/Oct 2019 issue)

“Bravo to Jeff Adler and all involved in this special, special collection.” - American Record Guide (Sep/Oct 2019 issue)

Stream it on Spotify or purchase the CD.

Ralph Farris' new ensemble "Firewood" to take part in Gallim Dance residency at The Met

Ralph Farris' new ensemble, "Firewood", a "superband" of Juilliard-trained virtuoso violist-composers: Farris, Stephanie Griffin, Jessica Meyer and Lev Ljova, will make their first performances as part of the World Premier of Gallim Dance's Stone Skipping, at The Metropolitan Museum's Temple of Dendur on October 28 and 29, 2017.

The work is part of Gallim Dance Artistic Director Andrea Miller's residency at The Met in collaboration with composer Phil Kline as well as Juilliard's dance program. Miller's residency marks the first for a choreographer at The Met, where she plans to create "new works designed to engage with the Museum’s galleries and great spaces." Stone Skipping, composed by Phil Kline, is planned as a site-specific work for The Temple of Dendur and will provoke a "conversation with the temple [exploring] its multifaceted journey from Egypt to New York City, as well as from temple to artifact, [evoking] our own human experience and environmental footprints."

Tickets and info here.

Ralph Farris to receive honorary degree

Denison University has announced that Ralph Farris, together with his fellow members of ETHEL, will receive an honorary degree at next year's commencement exercises. Farris is a founding member of the adventurous string quartet, currently in-residence at Dennison. ETHEL was founded n 1998, and known for performing works by its own members as well as those by Philip Glass, Julia Wolfe, John Zorn, Steve Reich, Don Byron and Terry Riley. Read more here.

Fernando Otero & Ralph Farris perform at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

As part of the Met Museum's weekly residency series in the Balcony Bar, Fernando Otero and Ralph Farris will play this Friday and Saturday, performing piano - viola repertoire from their own catalogs as well as Einhorn, Wiprud and Woolf.

Ralph Farris and ETHEL’s new album featured in New York Times

When not working as a composer, Ralph Farris performs in the pioneering string quartet ETHEL.

The group’s new album, Documerica, takes inspiration from the Environmental Protection Agency’s 1971 Project Documerica, which commissioned photographers across the United States to capture images of the environment and it’s impact on society. The album features new compositions by ETHEL members as well as music commissioned from acclaimed composers Mary Ellen Childs, GRAMMY®-winning jazz drummer Ulysses Owens, Jr., Chickasaw Nation’s Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate and James “Kimo” Williams. Each of these composers brings their own voice, regional and generational background to a collection of pieces that explores uniquely American music: the blues, jazz, Native American and Bluegrass.

Documerica is out this Friday on Innova. The New York Times is streaming the entire album this week. Check it out here.

Ralph Farris' music for Aquila Theatre premieres in London

A Female Philoctetes premiered in April 2014 to sold-out audiences at Brooklyn Academy of Music's Fisher Hillman Studio and has been featured on NPR's "All Things Considered" and "The Diane Rehm Show." The play features incidental music by Ralph Farris, who joined the company's artistic director Desiree Sanchez to work on the production as composer and musical director.

Sophocles' ancient play, Philoctetes, captures a reality for all combat veterans who have been physically wounded and explores ethical dilemmas, as dynamic and relevant today as they were to the Greeks 2500 years ago. Aquila Theatre's production explores this ancient play, re-imagining the title role played as a female combat soldier.

The performance is on Tuesday, June 30 at 6:00 pm at Cruciform Lecture Theatre - London, UK: Tickets and info can be found here.

Ralph Farris' music for Aquila Theatre's "The Tempest" ends run

The Aquila Theatre's 2014-15 National Tour ends tonight in Deerfield, MA, with the final performance of William Shakespeare's The Tempest. The production, directed by Desiree Sanchez, with new music by Ralph Farris, has toured the US since its opening on September 25, 2014 at Wells College in Aurora, NY.

“Ralph Farris set the mood for enchantment and the supernatural with his ethereal musical compositions. ”

— Spencer Powell, CVNC.org

Aquila Theatre’s mission is "to make classical works accessible to the greatest number." Founded in London in 1991 by Peter Meineck, Aquila is now based in New York City. Farris' previous work with the company was on an adaptation, A Female Philoctetes, and part of their YOUSTORIES program, produced at BAM in April 2014 and presented in partnership with the National Endowment for the Humanities.