Bang on a Can is a multi-faceted musical organization based in
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
. It was founded in 1987 by three
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
composers who remain its artistic directors:
Julia Wolfe'Julia Wolfe' is an American composer. She was born in Philadelphia and works in New York. Wolfe's music is rhythmically vigorous and often clangorously dissonant. As a composer associated with the downtown style of new music she is not averse to drawing on rock and minimalism as primary...
,
David LangDavid Lang is an American composer living in New York City. He was awarded the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Music for The Little Match Girl Passion.-Biography:...
, and
Michael GordonMichael Gordon is an American composer and co-founder of the Bang on a Can festival and ensemble. His music is associated with the genres of totalism and post-minimalism.-Early life:...
. It is a major force in the presentation of new concert music, and has presented hundreds of musical events worldwide.
It is perhaps best known for its Marathon Concerts during which an eclectic mix of pieces are performed in succession over the course of many hours while audience members, who are encouraged to maintain a "jeans-and-tee-shirt informality," are welcome to come and go as they please.
Bang on a Can is a multi-faceted musical organization based in
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
. It was founded in 1987 by three
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
composers who remain its artistic directors:
Julia Wolfe'Julia Wolfe' is an American composer. She was born in Philadelphia and works in New York. Wolfe's music is rhythmically vigorous and often clangorously dissonant. As a composer associated with the downtown style of new music she is not averse to drawing on rock and minimalism as primary...
,
David LangDavid Lang is an American composer living in New York City. He was awarded the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Music for The Little Match Girl Passion.-Biography:...
, and
Michael GordonMichael Gordon is an American composer and co-founder of the Bang on a Can festival and ensemble. His music is associated with the genres of totalism and post-minimalism.-Early life:...
. It is a major force in the presentation of new concert music, and has presented hundreds of musical events worldwide.
It is perhaps best known for its Marathon Concerts during which an eclectic mix of pieces are performed in succession over the course of many hours while audience members, who are encouraged to maintain a "jeans-and-tee-shirt informality," are welcome to come and go as they please. For the twentieth anniversary of their Marathon Concerts, Bang on a Can presented twenty-six hours of uninterrupted music at the
World Financial CenterThe World Financial Center is a complex of buildings across West Street from the World Trade Center site in Lower Manhattan in New York City, overlooking the Hudson River. This complex is home to offices of major corporations including Merrill Lynch and American Express as well as Dow Jones and its...
Winter Garden AtriumThe Winter Garden Atrium is a 10-story glass-vaulted pavilion on Vesey Street in New York City's World Financial Center. Originally constructed in 1988, and substantially rebuilt in 2002, the Atrium houses various plants, trees and flowers, and shops...
in New York City.
Among the many Bang on a Can events were performances by
John CageJohn Milton Cage Jr. was an American composer, philosopher, poet, music theorist, artist, printmaker, and amateur mycologist and mushroom collector. A pioneer of chance music, electronic music and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war...
, premieres of
Glenn BrancaGlenn Branca is a highly influential avant-garde composer and guitarist known for his use of volume, alternative guitar tunings, repetition, droning, and the harmonic series.-Life and work:...
’s epic symphonies for massed electric guitars, and fully staged operas of
Harry PartchHarry Partch was an American composer and instrument creator. He was one of the first twentieth-century composers to work extensively and systematically with microtonal scales, writing much of his music for custom-made instruments that he built himself, tuned in 11-limit just...
, featuring the composer's original instruments.
In 2002, Bang on a Can began the yearly Summer Institute of Music , a program at the
Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA)The Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, commonly referred to as MASS MoCA, is a museum located in North Adams, Massachusetts, USA. It is the largest center for contemporary visual art and performing arts in the country....
for young composers and performers. This program is sometimes referred to by the nickname "Banglewood" in reference to the nearby, but far more traditional
Tanglewood Music FestivalTanglewood is an estate and music venue in Lenox and Stockbridge, Massachusetts and is the home of the annual summer Tanglewood Music Festival and the Tanglewood Jazz Festival. It has been the Boston Symphony Orchestra's summer home since 1937.- History :...
.
The three artistic directors occasionally collaborate by jointly composing a large work, often without revealing which sections each contributed. Examples include:
- The Carbon Copy Building - a "comic book opera" with words and drawings by MacArthur Grant
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is a major grant-making private foundation based in Chicago that has awarded more than US$4 billion since its inception in 1978...
recipient Ben KatchorBen Katchor is an American cartoonist. His comic strip Julius Knipl, Real Estate Photographer paints an evocative picture of a slightly surreal, historical New York City with a decidedly Jewish sensibility...
. It was the winner of the 2000 Obie AwardThe Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards bestowed by The Village Voice newspaper to theater artists and groups in New York City. As the Tony Awards cover Broadway productions, the Obies cover off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway productions...
for Best New American Work.
- Lost Objects - a contemporary oratorio, with a libretto by Deborah Artman. It is a fusion of baroque music
Baroque music describes a style of European classical music approximately extending from 1600 to 1750. This era is said to begin in music after the Renaissance and was followed by the Classical era...
and modern soundscapes, rendered in performance by the original instruments ensemble Concerto Köln with four electronic instruments, three solo vocalists, a choir, and a live remixA remix is an alternative version of a song, different from the original version. This name is also used for any alterations of medias other than a song ....
generated by DJ SpookyDJ Spooky, That Subliminal Kid , is a Washington DC-born electronic and experimental hip hop musician whose work is often called "illbient" or "trip hop". He is a turntablist and producer. He borrowed his stage name from the character The Subliminal Kid in the novel Nova Express by William S....
.
- The New Yorkers - a staged multimedia concert with additional contributions by filmmakers and visual artists including: Ben Katchor, Bill Morrison
Bill Morrison is a New York-based filmmaker and artist, best known for his experimental collage film Decasia...
, Doug Aitken-Life and work:Doug Aitken was born in Redondo Beach, California in 1968 and currently lives and works in Los Angeles and New York.Aitken’s body of work ranges from photography, sculpture, and architectural interventions to films, sound, single and multichannel video works, and installations...
, and William WegmanWilliam Wegman is an artist best known for creating series of compositions involving dogs, primarily his own Weimaraners in various costumes and poses.Wegman reportedly originally intended to pursue a career as a painter...
.
- Shelter - a multi-media work that in the words of librettist Deborah Artman, "evokes the power and threat of nature, the soaring frontier promise contained in the framing of a new house, the pure aesthetic beauty of blueprints, the sweet architecture of sound and the uneasy vulnerability that underlies even the safety of our sleep."
In the past, Bang on a Can released recordings on Composers Recordings Inc. (CRI), Sony Classical, Point Music (Universal), and Nonesuch, but now the majority of its recordings are found on its own record label, Cantaloupe Music . In addition to releasing works by Gordon, Wolfe, and Lang, the label releases CDs of music by composers and musical groups affiliated with the organization, including
Evan ZiporynEvan Ziporyn is an American composer of post-minimalist music and music for Balinese gamelans. He plays the clarinet, bass clarinet, and metallophone, borrowing from classical music, avant-garde, and jazz...
,
Phil KlinePhil Kline is an American composer. After graduating from Columbia University with a degree in English Literature, he formed the New York No Wave band The Del-Byzanteens in the early 1980s with filmmaker Jim Jarmusch and painter James Nares, collaborated with photographer Nan Goldin on the...
,
Alarm Will SoundAlarm Will Sound is a 20-member chamber orchestra that focuses on recordings and performances of contemporary music. Its performances have been described as "equal parts exuberance, nonchalance, and virtuosity" by the Financial Times and as "a triumph of ensemble playing" by the San Francisco...
,
IcebreakerIcebreaker is a UK-based new music ensemble founded by James Poke and John Godfrey. The group have established themselves as one of the UK's leading new music interpreters.-Biography:...
,
EthelETHEL is the name of an American string quartet based in New York City that is dedicated to the performance of new music.ETHEL was formed in 1998. Unlike most string quartets, ETHEL plays with amplification and integrates improvisation into its performances. Its members include Cornelius "Neil"...
, Gutbucket,
R. Luke DuBoisRoger Luke DuBois is an American composer, performer, conceptual new media artist, programmer, record producer and pedagogue based in New York City.-Biography:...
, and
Don ByronDon Byron is an American composer and multi-intrumentalist. He primarily plays clarinet, but also used bass clarinet and saxophones....
.
Bang on a Can has commissioned and premiered pieces by composers including
Steve ReichStephen Michael Reich is an American composer who pioneered the style of minimalist music. His innovations include using tape loops to create phasing patterns , and the use of simple, audible processes to explore musical concepts...
,
Terry RileyTerrence Mitchell Riley, better known as Terry Riley , is an American composer associated with the minimalist school of Western classical music.-Life:...
,
Michael NymanMichael Laurence Edward Nyman, CBE is an English composer of minimalist music, pianist, librettist and musicologist, perhaps best known for the many movie scores he wrote during his lengthy collaboration with the filmmaker Peter Greenaway, and his multi-platinum soundtrack album to Jane Campion's...
,
John AdamsJohn Adams was an American politician and the second President of the United States , after being the first Vice President for two terms. He is regarded as one of the most influential Founding Fathers of the United States.Adams came to prominence in the early stages of the American Revolution...
,
Somei SatohSomei Satoh is a Japanese composer.In the post-Takemitsu era, Somei Satoh has steadily been gaining notoriety as one of Japan’s most internationally celebrated and significant composers of contemporary traditional music...
,
Iva BittováIva Bittová is a Czech avant-garde violinist, singer and composer of Roma origin. She began her career as an actress in the mid 1970s, appearing in several Czech feature films, but switched to playing violin and singing in the early 1980s. She started recording in 1986 and by 1990 her unique vocal...
,
Roberto CarnevaleRoberto Carnevale is an Italian composer, pianist and conductor.Born in Catania, he started studying piano at the age of seven. He took a degree in Arts at the University of Catania and he attended the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena...
,
Ornette ColemanOrnette Coleman is an American saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter and composer. He was one of the major innovators of the free jazz movement of the 1960s....
,
Donnacha DennehyDonnacha Dennehy was born in Dublin in 1970. He studied Music at Trinity College, Dublin and later pursued graduate studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign...
and
Bun-Ching LamBun-Ching Lam is a composer, pianist, and conductor.She holds a B.A. degree in piano performance from the Chinese University of Hong Kong...
. In 1998 the organization began the People's Commissioning Fund which supports the creation of new musical compositions by pooling contributions from numerous member-commissioners whose donations range from $5 to $5,000. To date, this fund has commissioned:
- 1998 Virgil Moorefield
Virgil Moorefield is a drummer, composer and former student of Paul Lansky. He is interested in microtonality.In 2001 he received a Ph.D. in composition from Princeton University. He also holds an M.A. in comparative literature and philosophy from Columbia University, where he studied with Paul...
, Pamela ZPamela Z is an American composer, performer, and audio artist who works primarily with her voice and live electronic processing.-Music career:...
, Dan PlonseyDan Plonsey is a jazz saxophonist, popularly labeled as a free jazz musician. -Career:...
- 2000 Marc Mellits
Marc Mellits is an American composer and musician.Mellits was born in Baltimore, Maryland. He studied at the Eastman School of Music from 1984 to 1988, the Yale School of Music from 1989 to 1991, Cornell University from 1991 to 1996, and at Tanglewood in the summer of 1997...
, Edward Ruchalski, Miya MasaokaMiya Masaoka is an American musician and composer who performs on the 17-string Japanese koto zither, often augmenting it with string preparations and electronic triggers...
, Toby Twining
- 2001 Jeffrey Brooks, Sussan Deyhim
Sussan Deyhim, born in Tehran, is a singer, composer and dancer.Her career began as a dancer with Iran's Pars National Ballet company. Since 1980 she has lived in the United States, where she has collaborated with many musicians, including Arto Lindsay and Richard Horowitz.-External links:* *...
, James FeiJames Cheng Ting Fei is a composer and performer working in the fields of contemporary classical music and electronic music. He lives in the San Francisco Bay area...
, Keeril Makan-External links:*...
- 2002 Eve Beglarian
Eve Beglarian is a contemporary American composer, performer and audio producer of Armenian descent...
, John KingJohn King may refer to:Politics*John King, 2nd Baron King , English MP and peer*John King , United States Representative from New York*John Alsop King , Governor of New York, 1857–1859...
, Matthew ShippMatthew Shipp is an American pianist, composer and bandleader.Shipp was raised in Wilmington, Delaware, and began playing piano at six years old. His mother was friend of trumpeter Clifford Brown....
- 2003 Annea Lockwood
Annea Lockwood is a New Zealand born American composer and teaches electronic music at Vassar College...
, Ingram MarshallIngram Marshall is an American composer and a former student of Vladimir Ussachevsky and Morton Subotnick. Though the composer uses the term "expressivist" to describe his music, he is often associated with post-minimalism...
, Thurston MooreThurston Joseph Moore is an American musician best known as a singer, songwriter and guitarist of Sonic Youth. He has participated in many solo and group collaborations outside of Sonic Youth, as well as running Ecstatic Peace! records.-Early years:Moore was born in Coral Gables, Florida, but was...
- 2005 Cynthia Hopkins, Carla Kihlstedt
Carla Kihlstedt is an American violinist, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist from Lancaster, Pennsylvania currently living in Oakland, California....
, J.G. Thirlwell
- 2006 Yoav Gal, Annie Gosfield
Annie Gosfield is a New York composer who specializes in using detuned or out of tune samples and industrial noises...
, John HollenbeckJohn Hollenbeck's journey has been one of the most remarkable in contemporary music. Building on a wealth of experience in jazz and world styles as well as a deep interest in contemporary composition and spiritual practice, he has forged a lyrical new musical language, as accessible and expressive...
- 2007 Stefan Weisman, Joshua Penman, Lukas Ligeti
Lukas Ligeti is a composer and percussionist. His work incorporates elements of jazz, contemporary classical, and various world musics.- Background :...
- 2008 Tristan Perich, Erdem Helvacioglu
Erdem Helvacioglu is one of the most renowned electronic musicians of his generation in Turkey and is internationally recognised for his electronic music compositions. He has received numerous international awards including prizes from the Luigi Russolo and Insulae Electronicae Electroacoustic...
, Ken Thomson
- 2009 Lee Ranaldo
Lee M. Ranaldo is an American singer, guitarist, writer and record producer, best known as a co-founder of the rock band Sonic Youth...
, Kate MooreKate Moore was an American lighthouse keeper noted for the longevity of her tenure. The daughter of Stephen Moore, keeper of the Fayerweather Island Light in Connecticut since 1817, she gradually took over his duties as he became ill; she was not formally appointed keeper, however, until after...
, Lok Yin Tang, David Longstreth (of Dirty ProjectorsDirty Projectors are a Brooklyn-based experimental rock band led by Dave Longstreth. The band currently consists of Longstreth alongside Amber Coffman , Angel Deradoorian , Brian Mcomber , Nat Baldwin and Haley Dekle .-Biography:Longstreth's first album, The Graceful Fallen Mango, was released in...
)
Bang on a Can is associated with the whimsical SPIT Orchestra, and a pre-eminent chamber ensemble, the Bang on a Can All-Stars which in 2005 was named "Ensemble of the Year" by the Musical America International Directory of the Performing Arts. The personnel and instrumentation of the Bang on a Can All-Stars is
Evan ZiporynEvan Ziporyn is an American composer of post-minimalist music and music for Balinese gamelans. He plays the clarinet, bass clarinet, and metallophone, borrowing from classical music, avant-garde, and jazz...
,
clarinetThe clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet...
and
saxophoneThe saxophone is a conical-bored transposing musical instrument considered a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and are played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by Adolphe Sax in 1841...
;
Mark StewartMark Stewart is a New York City-based multi-instrumentalist, composer, singer and instrument designer.He has been a member of the Fred Frith Guitar Quartet, Steve Reich and Musicians, Zeena Parkins' Gangster Band, and Arnold Dreyblatt's Orchestra of Excited Strings, and is a founding member of the...
,
electric guitarAn electric guitar is a guitar that uses pickups to convert the vibration of its steel-cored strings into an electrical current, which is made louder with an instrument amplifier and a speaker. The signal that comes from the guitar is sometimes electronically altered with guitar effects such as...
; Wendy Sutter,
celloThe cello is a bowed string instrument. The word derives from the Italian violoncello. A person who plays a cello is called a cellist. The cello is used as a solo instrument, in chamber music, and as a member of the string section of an orchestra...
; Robert Black,
double bassThe double bass, also called the upright bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra. The name, "double bass," derives from the early use of the instrument to double—an octave lower where possible—the bass part written...
;
Lisa MooreLisa Moore is an internationally renowned classical and jazz pianist with a diverse and eclectic mix of musical influences. She was also a founding member of the Bang On A Can All-Stars, a New York based electro-acoustic sextet, for which this and other achievements the New Yorker magazine...
,
keyboardsA keyboard instrument is any musical instrument played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include various types of organs as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
; and David Cossin percussion.
External links