Since its inception in 1987, the Bang on a Can festival has been discovering and presenting the most exciting performers who have committed their lives to the music of our time. Over ten years, Bang on a Can has found a number of these musicians – performers who are adventurous, virtuosic, dynamic and intense, who are equally at home with the diverse styles that exist within music today. Six players in particular kept coming back. They were among the festival's finest artists – six of the most accomplished performers of new music in the world. With these six players the festival created the Bang on a Can All-Stars.
The instrumentation of the Bang on a Can All-Stars is unique: clarinets and saxophones, electric guitar, cello, bass, keyboards, percussion. It is an instrumentation that doesn't seem to fit in any recognizable category. Part classical ensemble, part rock band, part jazz band, it has a flexibility that represents the vision of the festival, whose artistic directors, Michael Gordon, David Lang, and Julia Wolfe, believe in the communicative power of a wide range of musics from a new generation of composers and performers.
The growth of the Bang on a Can All-Stars is paralleled by a growth in the repertoire that they play. Because of their dedication to music that is being composed right now, the Bang on a Can All-Stars have become very active commissioners of new work. Increasingly, their repertoire is made up of exciting new works from emerging and established composers. Not only does this create fresh challenges for players and audiences alike but it also insures that the Bang on a Can All-Stars are continually the champions of an evolving list of the music of our time.
“Bang on a Can is one of the most captivating and forward-thinking modern classical/new music ensembles in the country…imagine the most regal and vivacious avant-garde classical/rock music…” (Village Voice, June 200)
„… Bang on a Can is the best way to open yourself to a new musical word…promises to challenge, move, and at times enter the realm of the sublime.”(Flavorpill, June 2003)
PROGRAM: Evan Ziporyn: Music from Shadowbang Michael Gordon: Light is Calling – accompanied by Bill Morrison’s film Don Byron: Eugene – (accompanied by excerpts from Ernie Kovacs’s film
– intermission –
Iva Bittova: New Works
Iva Bittova - violin/vocal Robert Black - bass Eduardo Leandro - percussion Mark Stewart - electric guitar Wendy Sutter - cello Cristina Valdes - piano Evan Ziporyn - clarinets
