Bang on a Can Marathon: Today’s the day

Artists scheduled to perform at the Bang on a Can Marathon 2018

What day could be more appropriate than Mothers’ Day for the mother of  all Bang on a Can Marathons.

The free 10-hour multi-genre show kicks off at noon at New York University’s Skirball Center for the Performing Arts.

Featured artists and composers include Bang on a Can founders David Lang, Michael Gordon, and Julia Wolfe, along with one of their mentors, Terry Riley — and, of course, the Bang on a Can All Stars.

But performances aren’t limited to contemporary classical. Singer-songwriter and Magnetic Fields‘ frontman Stephin Merritt is appearing in the first hour of the show, with cellist bandmate Sam Davol, to appeal to the pop audience. Another artist with proven crossover appeal, Brooklyn singer-songwriter Xenia Rubinos, appears later in the day.

If you can’t make it to Skirball, a livestream is scheduled. GO HERE to connect (free registration required to watch).

Check out the full performance schedule after the jump

Come and go or stay all day! We break out the schedule in two-hour blocks. All times approximate and subject to change.

12 pm

Galina Ustvolskaya’s Symphony No. 2 – NYU Contemporary Ensemble; Robert Osborne, voice, David Friend, piano, Jonathan Haas, music director

Stephin Merritt and Sam Davol

Michael Gordon’s Sonatra -Vicky Chow, piano

Dylan Mattingly’s Stranger Love, Act I: JUBILEE (excerpt) – Contemporaneous

2 pm

Gabriella Smith’s Panitao – Bang on a Can All-Stars

Brendon Randall-Myers’ changes, stops, and swells (for b)* – Bang on a Can All-Stars

Fjóla Evans’s Eroding*  – Contemporaneous

Alex Weiser’s and all the days were purple (excerpts) – Purple Ensemble

Val Jeanty & Ravish Momin:  new works from Which Way is Home? – Turning Jewels Into Water: Val Jeanty (turntables, electronics) & Ravish Momin (electronic drums)

Jeffrey Brooks’ After the Treewatcher – Bang on a Can All-Stars & Contemporaneous:  David Bloom conductor

4 pm

Jeffrey Brooks’s Capriccio on the Departure of a Beloved Brother*  – Bang on a Can All-Stars & Contemporaneous: David Bloom conductor

Tom Chiu’s RETROCON* – FLUX Quartet

Mazz Swift & Therese Workman’s Revolution:House – Mazz Swift (violin, voice, synth) & Therese Workman (voice, synth)

Jeffrey Brooks’s The Passion* – Bang on a Can All-Stars & Contemporaneous: David Bloom conductor

6 pm

Nicole Lizée’s White Label Experiment* – Sō Percussion

Aleksandra Vrebalov’s Logbook, Part II – ETHEL

Jessie Montgomery’s Voodoo Dolls – ETHEL

Julia Wolfe’s Blue Dress for String Quartet – ETHEL

Frederic Rzewski’s Coming Together – Bang on a Can All-Stars & Eric Berryman, voice

8 pm

Xenia Rubinos & Marco Buccelli

David Lang’s the day – Maya Beiser, cello & Kate Valk, voice

Terry Riley’s Autodreamographical Tales & Science Fiction – Bang on a Can All-Stars & Terry Riley, voice

* New York premiere  ** US premiere

More info on the music!

·       The electric Bang on a Can All-Stars and the legendary and inspirational composer Terry Riley performing Autodreamographical Tales, an intimate and whimsical set of “dream narratives” featuring settings of stories and dreams narrated by Riley and orchestrated specifically for the All-Stars, also featuring special guest guitarist Gyan Riley

·       Soviet-era Russian composer Galina Ustvolskaya’s Symphony No. 2 – a glacial and maniacal monument to her deep spiritual faith – performed by NYU Contemporary Ensemble, directed by Jonathan Haas with pianist David Friend and vocalist Robert Osborne

·       Ever inventive songsmith Stephin Merritt of Magnetic Fields performing a set with longtime collaborator Sam Davol on cello

·       The soulful and ecstatic Xenia Rubinos performing a rare duo set with Marco Buccelli

·       The endlessly-creative New York native violinist Mazz Swift combining forces with Brooklyn-based song-maker Therese Workman (Oh My Goodness)

·       Composer Michael Gordon’s impossible solo piano work Sonatra, performed by Bang on a Can All-Star pianist Vicky Chow

·       The all new Turning Jewels Into Water, a duo featuring Haitian-born composer, percussionist and turntablist Val Jeanty with composer-drummer Ravish Momin

·       New York’s pioneering string quartet ETHEL performing music of Julia Wolfe, Jessie Montgomery, and Aleksandra Vrebalov

·       Composer David Lang’s the day, an emotional chronicle of remembered moments performed by the breathtaking cellist Maya Beiser and actor Kate Valk, recently released on Cantaloupe Music

·       A triple-threat New York premiere set of commissioned works by Minneapolis composer Jeffrey Brooks performed by Bang on a Can All-Stars and Contemporaneous

·       Frederic Rzewski’s Coming Together, the explosive and still poignant setting of letters by Sam Melville, an Attica State prisoner during the time of the famous riots there, performed by Bang on a Can All-Stars and actor Eric Berryman

·       Canadian composer and “musical scientist” Nicole Lizée’s unique musical blend tapping Hitchcock, Kubrick, 1960s psychedelia, and more

·       Composer Alex Weiser’s wonderfully imaginative musical settings of Yiddish poems

·       Contemporaneous, directed by David Bloom performing a special excerpt of Act I of Dylan Mattingly’s visceral (6-hour) opera Stranger Love and Fjóla Evans’ shimmering and ambient Eroding

·       NYC veteran FLUX Quartet in the New York premiere of Tom Chiu’s sonic perfect storm RETROCON

·       Bang on a Can All-Stars in the New York premiere of composer Brendon Randall-Myers’ intricate changes, stops, and swells and Gabriella Smith’s Brazilian-rainforest odyssey Panitao