Asphalt Orchestra will open the 2011 edition of the Bang on a Can Marathon by performing "Carlton" by Stes and Heidi Rodewald and "Opus 81" by Yoko Ono. (Photo © 2010, Steven P. Marsh)
Memorial Day may be the unofficial start of summer, but it doesn’t really get started for us at Will You Miss Me When I’m Gone? until the annual Bang on a Can Marathon arrives.
This year’s edition is Sunday, June 19. It’s scheduled to run from 11 a.m. to midnight, meaning we’re in for a real treat of 13 continuous hours of music — all for FREE at the World Financial Center Winter Garden in Manhattan’s Battery Park City.
Todd Reynolds
Scheduling problems (also known as my day job) last year made it hard to take in much of the daylong (mostly indoors) event.
We managed to listen only for a couple of hours. We’re not going to let that happen this year. We’ve made sure to save the time and date this year. You should, too.
This year’s edition features many of our favorites, including Bang on a Can’s house band, the All-Stars, electro-acoustic violinist extraodinaire Todd Reynolds (performing a World Premiere of his work Transamerica), avant garde marching band Asphalt Orchestra, the fabulous New Music ensemble Signal, singer-composer-director Toby Twining, cellist Maya Beiser and the truly wonderful Young People’s Chorus of New York City.
Toby Twining (Ben Sozanski photo)
Aside from our recurring favorites, this year’s marathon also features a performance by the Sun Ra Arkestra in the 8-10 p.m. slot, and the Glenn Branca Ensemble as the day’s closer.
Aside from works by Bang on Can founders Julia Wolfe, Michael Gordon and David Lang, the day features music by luminaries such as Philip Glass. Iannis Xenakis and Michael Nyman. However, the music of Steve Reich, a godfather of Bang on a Can, is absent from the program.
Click through for the full schedule or download a copy here.
2011 Bang on a Can Marathon Schedule:
Please note that times are approximate and subject to change. For updates visit http://www.bangonacan.org or follow @bangonacan on Twitter. For a YouTube playlist of featured artists visit http://bit.ly/mRCSRE.
11am (OUTSIDE)
- Asphalt Orchestra performing Carlton by Stew and Heidi Rodewald, Opus 81 by Yoko Ono
- Queens College Percussion Ensemble with Matthew Welch, bagpipes; Amanda Accardi piano, Michael Lipsey, conductor performing Matthew Welch’s The Self and the Other, mvts. 1 and 3
- Flutist Alejandro Escuer performing Códigos secretos** by Gabriela Ortiz
Noon
- Queens College Percussion Ensemble with Iktus Percussion performing Portrait of Eva Hesse (palindrome), for 2 to 19 percussionists in unison contours by Anthony Gatto
- JACK Quartet performing Three Small Pieces for String Quartet* by Richard Ayres
- Prism Saxophone Quartet performing Hymn by Kati Agócs
- Violinist Todd Reynolds performing his own work Transamerica+
- Prism Saxophone Quartet performing Xas by Iannis Xenakis
- Sentieri Selvaggi performing Love Always Counts* by Michael Nyman, Sinatra Shag by Michael Daugherty
- Prism Saxophone Quartet performing Keen by Roshanne Etezady
2pm
Annie Clark aka St. Vincent
- Sentieri Selvaggi performing Risvegliatevi!* by Filippo Del Corno, Brightness* by Mauro Montalbetti, Zingiber* by Carlo Boccadoro
- Asphalt Orchestra performing Two Ships by David Byrne/Annie Clark, Ngoma Yekwedu by Thomas Mapfumo
- Bang on a Can All-Stars performing Concerning the Doodle by Christine Southworth, O Shut Your Eyes Against the Wind by Bryce Dessner
David Byrne
4pm
- Young People’s Chorus of New York City and Maya Beiser, cello; Michael Harrison, just-intonation piano, and Payton MacDonald, percussion performing Hijaz by Michael Harrison
- Guitarists Taylor Levine and James Moore performing Warmth by David Lang
- Young People’s Chorus of New York City and JACK Quartet performing Exalted by Michael Gordon
- Athelas Wind Quintet and Frode Andersen performing Songs and Rhapsodies* by Poul Ruders
- Asphalt Orchestra performing Zomby Woof by Frank Zappa
6pm
- Asphalt Orchestra performing Hyper-Ballad by Björk and Champagne by Goran Bregovic
- Talea Ensemble and soprano Tony Arnold performing An Index of Metals** by Fausto Romitelli
- Timo Andres performing his own work At the River
8pm
- Signal performing Cruel Sister by Julia Wolfe
- Toby Twining performing excerpts from his own work Eurydice
- Bang on a Can All-Stars and Philip Glass performing Glass’s Music in Similar Motion and Closing
- Sun Ra Arkestra performing their own work
10pm
- Clarinetists Evan Ziporyn, Carol McGonnell, Joshua Rubin, and Michael Lowenstern performing Hive by Evan Ziporyn
- Glenn Branca Ensemble performing The Ascension: The Sequel by Glenn Branca
+World Premiere
*US Premiere
**New York Premiere
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