Sufjan Stevens' score for Reflections ballet to be released next month

Over four years after the premiere of the ballet Reflections – a collaboration between Sufjan Stevens and choreographer Justin Peck – the lauded singer-songwriter's score is getting an official release. Out May 19, via Asthmatic Kitty Records, the album will feature pianists Timo Andres and Conor Hanick.

The first single from the project, 'Ekstasis', has been released today, alongside a video starring both pianists.

Reflections, which premiered in March 2019, was originally commissioned by Houston Ballet to accompany choreography by Peck. Written for two pianos and 11 dancers, Reflections marks the sixth collaboration between Stevens and Peck, following Year of the Rabbit (2012); Everywhere We Go (2014); In the Countenance of Kings (2016); The Decalogue (2017); and Principia (2019).

The upcoming album – which includes one track playfully titled 'And I Shall Come To You Like A Stormtrooper in Drag Serving Imperial Realness' – is about “energy, light and duality,” Stevens says. “I’m constantly thinking about bodies moving through space when I’m writing for ballet – that is what has informed this music, first and foremost."

“Although I've never taken a lesson, the piano was my first true love," he continues. "Having two of them at my disposal was an exciting opportunity and gave me a real catharsis about the expansiveness of the instrument.”

Reflections is now available to pre-order on CD and LP.

Watch the live performance video for 'Ekstasis', directed by Brian Paccione, below:

Reflections cover art:

Artwork by Jessica Slaven

Tracklist:

1. Ekstasis
2. Revanche
3. Euphoros
4. Mnemosyne
5. Rodinia
6. Reflexion
7. And I Shall Come To You Like A Stormtrooper In Drag Serving Imperial Realness