Peter Serling
First Friday with Robert Black
– May 7
The May First Friday with Robert Black brings us Bass Beginnings – music from the mid-20th Century “Big Bang” moment that started the formation of an entirely new universe of music for the instrument – a universe that is continually expanding at an astronomical pace. Hear the jazz-tinged music of Barney Childs, modern lyricism from George Perle, and William Sydeman’s vibrant color palette. The Future was then. The Future is now.
PROGRAM
Barney Childs – Sonata for Bass Alone
George Perle – Monody II
William Sydeman – For Double Bass Alone
First Fridays with Robert Black is a monthly series of virtual mini-concerts featuring brand-spanking new, recently new, and kind of new music for solo double bass – streaming from his home studio in Hartford, Connecticut, at noon (EST). Whether you’re having your morning coffee in Los Angeles, or lunch in New York, or that first glass of wine in Paris, or a late supper in Tashkent, tune in for some cool and compelling music.
This is a free concert! But please consider purchasing a ticket just the same. Doing so will help us to do more performances, pay more players, commission more composers, and share more music worldwide.
Terry Riley’s “Autodreamographical Tales”
Terry Riley’s practice of writing down his dreams in a personal journal became the basic for Autodreamographical Tales – a wildly unique creation from one of America’s most iconic composers. Riley set some of these dreams to music and created a demo of the tales. The songs offer an uncommonly special connection with Terry, who narrates each tale himself. We heard the demos and proposed realizing Autodreamographical Tales with Terry and the Bang on a Can All-Stars.
To our great delight, he agreed!
Please support the album Autodreamographical Tales. We will send you an early copy of the record, and if you can swing $100 or more the record will be signed by Terry Riley himself!
Film Premiere of Julia Wolfe’s Steel Hammer
– May 6
Cal Performances at Home premieres a new film, Steel Hammer, based on the acclaimed oratorio by Julia Wolfe. Steel Hammer is a meditation on over 200 versions of the “John Henry” folk ballad. The various versions—based on hearsay, recollection, and tall tales—reveal both the evolution of the story, as well as the timeless tale of human versus machine.
The film premiere is May 6 at 7pm PT, and 10pm ET on May 6. It will be available on demand through August 4.
The premiere evening, May 6, includes a “watch party” with a live chat, so that viewers can chat with each other and Cal Performances staff during the night of the premiere — starting a little before the show begins and then during the show as well–to share their thoughts and reflections with others watching “live” too.
Immediately following the performance debut on May 6, viewers are invited to join a Post-Watch Party Discussion via Zoom, hosted by Cal Performances Director of Artistic Planning Katy Tucker.
The Cal Performances site also includes Julia’s interview with Jeremy Geffen, a feature from Jonathan Leal in San Francisco Classical Voice, and of course program notes!
PLEASE COMPLETE OUR SURVEY!
Welome to CANLAND
– Bang on a Can's new archive
Since 1987 we’ve done our best to save, record and video as many of our programs as possible. We’ve now put the finishing touches on an ALL ACCESS archive of all 33 years of music-making. We’re calling it CanLand. Our vision for CanLand is that it’s not just a museum-like catalog, but a meeting place for the extraordinary world we have built together over these many years, a place to connect and reconnect with the music, the composers, the performers, the experiences we’ve shared, and most important, with one another during this very unusual time of separation.