Bang on a Can Marathon

2009 Schedule

Bang on a Can Marathon

May 31, 2009 12:00pm

World Financial Center Winter Garden, New York, NY

The Bang on a Can Marathon 2009
May 31 – 12 HOURS of LIVE MUSIC!
at the World Financial Center Winter Garden
220 Vesey Street
12pm (noon) – 12am (midnight)

Co-presented by the River to River Festival® and arts>World Financial Center

Bang on a Can’s annual incomparable eclectic super-mix of genre defying music! On Sunday, May 31, a swarm of musicians and composers from all over the world will descend on the Winter Garden in New York City for 12 HOURS of uninterrupted live ear-bending border-crossing music from around the corner and around the globe. FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.

Among the many highlights, this year’s marathon will feature:

Bang on a Can All-Stars performing world premieres of brand new collaborations with oscar-winning pianist, composer, and actor Ryuichi Sakamoto and another with world-renowned guitarist Bill Frisell; a special appearance by the groundbreaking post-rock band Tortoise; an invasion of Danish composers and performers, including the U.S. debuts of the choral group Ars Nova Copenhagen led by eminent conductor Paul Hillier and the new music ensemble Athelas Sinfonietta Copenhagen, including U.S. premieres of David Lang’s For love is strong, from his new CD The Little Match Girl Passion on Harmonia Mundi and Thirst, a massive new work by Bang on a Can co-founder Julia Wolfe; Britain’s astonishing Smith Quartet performing Gavin Bryars’ classic The Sinking of the Titanic; a brilliant and rare combo of free jazz icon bassist Henry Grimes and the magical experimental drummer Andrew Cyrille; Pipa virtuoso Wu Man and tabla master Sandeep Das together with string quartet Brooklyn Rider for a performance of Sulvasutra by composer and Bang on a Can All-Star clarinetist Evan Ziporyn; Michael Gordon’s monumental Trance _by the New York new music band Signal; selections from Phil Kline’s _John the Revelator, a Mass inspired by bluesman Blind Willie Johnson’s song of the same name, performed by the vocal sextet Lionheart and the string quartet Ethel; Ken Thomson’s 9-headed Saxophone Monster; Andy Akiho’s ten-piece steel pan band; Meredith Monk’s Stringsongs performed by the Todd Reynolds String Quartet; Eric km Clark’s exPAT: Deprivation Music No. 4 for 10 electric guitars performed by the guitar quartet DITHER with friends; Moritz Eggert’s One Man Band performed by miraculous pianist Shiau-uen Ding; music by Matt McBane performed by Build; the New York-based all-women new music collective Victoire performing music by Missy Mazzoli; composer Ted Hearne with his band, Your Bad Self and more!

Here is a complete list of this year's composers and performers (note that set times are approximate and subject to change):

12pm Andy Akiho's Steel Pan Nonette performing new work by Andy Akiho
Signal performing Trance by Michael Gordon
Solo tabla performance by Sandeep Das
DITHER & Friends performing Eric km Clark's exPAT: Deprivation Music No. 4
2pm Todd Reynolds String Quartet performing Stringsongs by Meredith Monk
Solo performance by Bill Frisell
Your Bad Self performing We Didn't Know, Snowball, and Blacktop by Ted Hearne
Smith Quartet performing White Man Sleeps by Kevin Volans
Athelas Sinfonietta Copenhagen performing Ground, vol. 3 by Jeppe Just Christensen
4pm Lionheart & Ethel performing excerpts from John the Revelator by Phil Kline
Build performing Imagining Winter and In the Backyard by Matt McBane
Bassist Henry Grimes performing with drummer Andrew Cyrille
Smith Quartet performing The Sinking of the Titanic by Gavin Bryars
Bang on a Can All-Stars & Bill Frisell performing new work by Bill Frisell
6pm Ars Nova Copenhagen conducted by Paul Hillier performing Three Stages by Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen and Rise Up, my love by Howard Skempton
Athelas Sinfonietta Copenhagen performing Braun KSM 2 by Jeppe Just Christensen
Ars Nova Copenhagen performing For love is strong by David Lang
Smith Quartet performing Folk Music (Daithi's Dumka) by Joe Cutler
Athelas Sinfonietta Copenhagen performing excerpts from On This Planet by Anders Nordentoft
8pm Wu Man performing 12th Century Pipa piece Night Thoughts
Ken Thomson's 9-headed Saxophone Monster performing Rut by Ken Thomson
Athelas Sinfonietta Copenhagen & Ars Nova Copenhagen performing Thirst by Julia Wolfe
Shiau-uen Ding performing Haemmerklavier III: One Man Band by Moritz Eggert
Victoire performing Like a Miracle, I am coming for my things by Missy Mazzoli
10pm Wu Man, Sandeep Das, and Brooklyn Rider performing Sulvasutra by Evan Ziporyn
Solo performance by Ryuichi Sakamoto
Bang on a Can All-Stars & Ryuichi Sakamoto performing new work by Ryuichi Sakamoto
Bang on a Can All-Stars performing Horses of Instruction by Steve Martland
Performance by Tortoise

Click here for a YouTube playlist of Marathon 2009 Artists, or check out artist bios and press clips in our press room