Innovation and exploration have been the hallmarks since the first Bang on a Can Marathon thirty-three years ago. Perhaps this year’s marathon will mark the most profound innovation as this celebration of new music and new music composers is going online. You won’t have to be in New York – which is great for those of us who don’t live there.
This year’s Bang on a Can Marathon takes place on Sunday, October 18th. The performances begin at 3:00 PM EDT/12:00 PM PDT and run through 9:00 PM EDT/6:00 PM PDT. There is no charge to watch the performances. However, like most institutions and musicians, donations are happily accepted. Tickets/donations can be purchased here.
Bang on a Can was founded by David Lang, Michael Gordon and Julia Wolfe.
The six hour festival gets started by celebrating the 91st birthday of composer George Crumb. Awarded the 1968 Pulitzer Prize for Music for his composition Echoes of Time and the River. He won a Grammy Award in 2000 for Star-Child.
Here is the line-up for the Bang on a Can Marathon 2020:
3:00 PM
Susan Grace performs selections from A Little Midnight Music by George Crumb
Ken Thomson performs the world premiere of Curveballs and Asteroids by Annie Gosfield – Thomson is a clarinetist, saxophonist and composer. Gosfield collaborated with Yuval Sharon on War of the Worlds in Los Angeles in 2017.
Composer Christina Wheeler gives the world premiere performance of her work A Coda for the Totality of Blackness Trilogy – Wheeler’s Totality of Blackness is described on her website as “a four-part tone-poem suite for a recumbent audience listening in color-spectrally controlled virtual darkness through a multi-speaker array sound system.”
Seth Parker Woods performs Argoru II by Alvin Singleton – Woods is a cellist and Singleton’s composition had its world premiere in 1970.
4:00 PM
Haushka is the pseudonym for Volker Bertelmann who has composed the scores for such films as Hotel Mumbai and Lion. His work credited as Haushka is primarily focused on music for prepared piano.
Mark Stewart gives the world premiere performance of Santuario by Jeffrey Brooks. Guitarist Stewart is a member of Bang on a Can. Brooks is a regular collaborator with the ensemble.
Mazz Swift will perform her work Give up the world – Swift, a member of Silkroad Ensemble, is a violinist and vox performer in addition to being composer.
David Cossin gives the world premiere of John Paul George and Ringo Pry Open the Gates of Hell by Greg Saunier – Cossin is a percussionist and member of Bang on a Can. Saunier is also a drummer and is a founding member of Deerhoof.
Nathalie Joachim gives the world premiere of Fear of Flying by Gemma Peacocke – Joachim plays flute and piccolo, sings and composes. Peacocke’s work is for flute and mixed electronics.
5:00 PM
David Longstreth, guitarist and lead singer for Dirty Projects, open the hour.
Mike Harley performs Come Closer by John Fitz Rogers – Harley is a singer/pianist/bassonist. Come Closer was written by Rogers in 2011 and is scored for four low winds and four click tracks.
William Parker gives the world premiere performance of his Hum Spirituals – Parker is a jazz bassist and composer.
Andie Tanning performs The Warmth of Other Suns by Leaha Maria Villarreal – Tanning is a violinist and Villarreal is the co-founder of Hotel Elefant in addition to being a composer.
6:00 PM
Tyshawn Sorey opens this hour with performances of his own work. He’s a multi-instrumentalist and composer.
JIJI performs Paisanos Semos! and Bailarín by Tania León – JIJI is a classical guitarist and León is a composer and founding member of Dance Theater of Harlem.
Anna Webber is a flutist, saxophonist and composer who primarily works within avant-garde jazz and experimental classical music
Tim Munro performs the first two movements of Liminal Highway by Christopher Cerrone – Munro is a flutist whose new album features a complete performance of Limnal Highway. Cerrone wrote the music for the opera Invisible Cities
7:00 PM
Vicky Chow gives the world premiere performance of Brevis by Valgeir Sigurðsson – Chow is the pianist with Bang on a Can All-Stars and Sigurðsson has collaborated with Björk and created the Bedroom Community label in 2006 with Nico Muhly and Ben Frost.
Nels Cline & Yuka C. Honda – Cline has a new album due from Blue Note Records and Honda is a director/producer/animator. The couple is married.
Arlen Hlusko gives the world premiere performance of Why Did They Kill Sandra Bland? by Daniel Bernard Roumain – Hlusko is a bassist with Bang on A Can All-Stars and Roumain is a violinist and composer.
Du Yun – Du Yun is a Pulitzer Prize-winning composer (Angel’s Bone) and recently collaborated with The Industry on Sweet Land.
8:00 PM
Robert Black gives the world premiere performance of Arise by Krists Auznieks – Black is a bassist with Bang on a Can All-Stars and Auznieks is a composer whose work has been performed all over the world.
Bill Frisell, guitarist and composer, closes the marathon.
Photo: Bang on a Can (Photo by Peter Serling/Courtesy Bang on a Can website)