Opening Reception:
Saturday, April 25th, 2026
On Exhibition:
April 25th – June 6th, 2026
Artist Statement:
Sculpting Sound
Inspired by Playground’s 2022 collaboration with BRDG Project and sound sculptor and interdisciplinary artist Alex Branch, Sculpting Sound will feature multiple new sonic artworks by local visual and installation artists.
These sonic artworks will then become an ‘orchestra’ for a series of new musical commissions to be performed by the musicians in The Playground Ensemble. In collaboration with Leon Gallery, the artworks and composers’ scores will be on public display from late April through the month of May, with an opening reception on April 25, 2026 from 6-9 PM. During the exhibition visitors will be allowed to interact and experiment with the artwork themselves.
The show culminates with two concerts premiering the commissioned music on May 30, and a third improvised music concert on May 31.
This program is supported by Denver Arts & Venues through the DENVER CREATES Fund, and by Colorado Creative Industries with support from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Participating Composers: Michi Theurer, Michael John McKee, Sarah Whitnah, Conrad Kehn, Nathan Hall, David Farrell, Sean Friar
Participating Artists: Dave Seiler, Alex Branch, David Britton, Katie Taft, Steve Gordon (posthumously)
Musical Personnel: Dave Short (cello), Luke Wachter (percussion), Richard C. (percussion), Ryan Fiegl (guitar/electronics), Shane Courville (trumpet), Sonya Yeager-Meeks (flute), Sean Friar (keyboard/percussion), Michi Theurer (violin), Conrad Kehn (electronics)
About Playground Ensemble:
The Playground Ensemble, in Residence at Metro State University of Denver, is the Rocky Mountain Region’s premier new music group. We are professional musicians, composers, educators and fans dedicated to presenting chamber music as a living art form.
In addition to concert seasons that feature the work of recognized composers, we work to cultivate a thriving local composition community. With exciting outreach programs like our innovative Young Composers Playground we are showing young people that classical music is vibrant, adventurous and relevant. We hope to inspire our audiences to not only listen, but to create!
Collaboration is at the heart of the Playground’s artistic vision. We commission new works by living composers, perform in support of touring improvisors, and perform regularly. We work with dancers, poets, spoken word artists, visual artists, and multi-media artists, finding inspiration across disciplines and exploring new, hybrid artistic forms.
The Playground has performed at many notable venues and festivals including the Biennial of the Americas, the National Performing Arts Convention, the International Society of Improvised Music Annual Conference, Mile High Voltage Festival, MCA Denver, Boettcher Hall, the Clyfford Still Museum and the Denver Art Museum.
We have performed with, or worked directly with a diverse cast of new music luminaries including Eyvind Kang, Morten Lauridsen, So Percussion, Evan Ziporyn, Roomful of Teeth, Caroline Shaw, Jace Clayton (DJ /rupture) and Tatsuya Nakatani.
Our efforts have been recognized and supported by numerous regional and national organizations including the Aaron Copland Fund for Music, Chamber Music America, The Amphion Foundation, The American Music Center, New Music USA, the Gay & Lesbian Fund for Colorado, the Singer Foundation and the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District.