Hourly Schedule Announced for Bang on a Can Marathon - Live Online August 16th from 3pm-9pm
Bang on a Can announces the hourly schedule for its ALL LIVE Bang on a Can Marathon on Sunday, August 16, 2020 from 3pm-9pm ET. The 6-hour live Marathon will be hosted by Bang on a Can Co-Founders and Artistic Directors Michael Gordon, David Lang, and Julia Wolfe, who say:
On August 16, Bang on a Can returns with 6 hours of nonconformist, noncommercial, boundary-smashing music. We kick off at 3pm with the singular and extraordinary Wu Man, one of the world’s foremost Pipa players and close off with György Ligeti’s diabolical etude ‘The Devil’s Staircase’, performed by piano superstar Jeremy Denk. Don’t miss a rare solo performance by jazz legend Oliver Lake, 11 world premieres commissioned especially for the day, as well as music and performances by Leyla McCalla, Kaki King, Annea Lockwood, Craig Taborn, Missy Mazzoli, Tyondai Braxton and many more greats. This is a free concert! But please consider purchasing a ticket! Doing so will help us to do more performances, pay more players, commission more composers, and share more music worldwide. We continue to support the work to eradicate racism and to create equal justice for all. Bang on a Can is donating 10% of all tickets purchased to the Equal Justice Initiative in support of their “commitment to ending mass incarceration and excessive punishment in the United States, to challenging racial and economic injustice, and to protecting the basic human rights for the most vulnerable people in American society.” An entire ecosystem of composers and performers still needs our attention, and our love, and our financial support! The Marathon will be free to stream and all Marathon performers and composers participating live are being compensated by Bang on a Can.
The Marathon starts at 3pm with Wu Man, one of the foremost pipa players in the world. The pipa is an ancient Chinese stringed instrument and Wu Man has used it as a bridge between musical cultures, frequently collaborating with such artists as the Kronos Quartet, Yo-Yo Ma, Henry Threadgill and Philip Glass.
The Marathon ends with György Ligeti, who was catapulted into the spotlight when Stanley Kubrick - famously and without permission - used his music in the film 2001: A Space Odyssey. Ligeti went on to become a leading light of 20th century modernism, frequently building giant structures by paying close attention to music’s tiniest details. Ligeti’s diabolical etude The Devil’s Staircase will be performed by piano superstar Jeremy Denk. Towards the end of his life Ligeti dedicated himself to writing two books of some of the most exhilarating and difficult piano etudes ever. In this etude – miraculously – the notes always seem always to be going straight up.
Bang on a Can August 16, 2020 Marathon Performance Schedule. Set times are approximate. 3pm Wu Man Nicole Mitchell New Work (world premiere) performed by Ken Thomson Dobrinka Tabakova Simple Prayer for Complex Times (world premiere) performed by Vicky Chow Tyondai Braxton 4pm Missy Mazzoli Vespers for Violin (solo) performed by Olivia De Prato Teddy Abrams New Work (world premiere) performed by himself Fjóla Evans New Work (world premiere) performed by Kendall Williams Jeffrey Brooks Santuario (world premiere) performed by Mark Stewart Shara Nova New Work (world premiere) performed by herself 5pm Brad Lubman New Work (world premiere) performed by Lauren Radnofsky Leyla McCalla Jacob Cooper Expiation (edit) performed by Jodie Landau Kaki King Scott Wollschleger Tiny Oblivion performed by Karl Larson 6pm Rajna Swaminathan New Work (world premiere) performed by herself Nick Dunston Fainting Is Down, Whooshing is Up (world premiere) performed by Robert Black Phil Kline The Best Words performed by Theo Bleckmann with Dan Tepfer/Todd Reynolds Marcos Balter ...and also a fountain performed by Rebekah Heller
7pm Oliver Lake Annea Lockwood RCSC performed by Sarah Cahill Paola Prestini From the Bones to the Fossils performed by Jeffrey Zeigler Craig Taborn 8pm Annika Socolofsky Bolder (world premiere) performed by Arlen Hlusko Samson Young Super Dark Energy (world premiere) performed by David Cossin György Ligeti The Devil's Staircase performed by Jeremy Denk
Join the Marathon and purchase tickets at marathon2020.bangonacan.org.