The “extraordinarily skilled, passionate musicians” (NY Times) in ETHEL perform the complete string quartets of Julia Wolfe: Dig Deep, early that summer, Four Marys, and Blue Dress for String Quartet. This is the first ever performance of ALL of Julia Wolfe's string quartets at one time, on one stage.  Julia Wolfe's string quartets, as described by The New Yorker, "combine the violent forward drive of rock music with an aura of minimalist serenity [using] the four instruments as a big guitar, whipping psychedelic states of mind into frenzied and ecstatic climaxes." This performance is presented in conjunction with the exhibition of fellow New York City cultural icon Martha Rosler: Irrespective. 

The Bang on a Can Media Workshop at MASS MoCA is an exploration of contemporary music criticism and journalism taking place from July 27-Aug 5, 2019.

“One of the most meaningful and impactful experiences of my writing career thus far.”  - Maggie Malloy 2018 participant

Bang on a Can, our special guest faculty, John Schaefer (of WNYC's New Sounds), Will Robin (writer and musicologist), and 4 writers in the early stages of their careers will gather at MASS MoCA (the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, North Adams, MA) to explore the role of criticism and journalism in today's dynamic contemporary music scene. 

The aim of the workshop is to help writers generate a vocabulary, syntax, and context that is most useful for readers/ listeners and to make modern music and criticism more accessible, welcoming, and exciting to all audiences.

Applications are due March 28.