Bang on a Can Summer Music Festival at MASS MoCA – July 19-Aug 5

Crucial support for the 2017 Summer Festival from: File 3584

The Bang on a Can Summer Music Festival at MASS MoCA (the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art) is a musical utopia for innovative musicians in the beautiful Berkshire mountains of western Massachusetts. The cornerstone of the residency are the public performances which run from July 19- Aug 5. The performances include daily recitals by faculty and fellows of the residency in the MASS MoCA galleries (free with museum admission), additional free performances in the community, and a festival finale blow-out concert – a 6 hour performance in the Hunter Center on Aug 5 with special guest composer Louis Andriessen! 

Here’s the current schedule, more details to be added soon! All recitals in the gallery are free with gallery admission.

July 20-21, July 24-28, and 31-Aug 4 the festival fellows present recitals at 1:30 all over the galleries!

Weds July 19, 4:30pm – Mark Stewart performs the music of Pauline Oliveros & all folks present(!) on the wonderful musical instruments of Gunnar Schonbeck. The Return of the 9 foot Banjo!! Come and join in. No experience required.

Thurs July 20, 4:30pm – Ashley Bathgate performs  new works for solo cello by Martin Bresnick, Emily Cooley, Pamela Madsen, Jascha Narveson, Alex Weiser, and the world premiere of It Is Not A City by Randall Woolf, with the poetry of Tongo Eisen-Martin.

Fri July 21, 4:30pm – The keyboard duo of Ray/Kallay (Vicki Ray and Aron Kallay) will play two works for microtonal keyboards by Dylan Mattingly and Rand Steiger. Also – Vicki will play three short works for solo piano: spring and greene by David Lang, On Debrosses Steet by Michael Gordon and East Broadway by Julia Wolfe.

Fri July 21, 10pm – The Bang-MoCA MASSive Latin Big Band! Led by Gregg August, Joe Gonzalez, and Ben Lapidus, the Bang on a Can fellows perform for free at the American Legion bar. Bring your dancing shoes.

Sat July 22, 4:30pm – Karl Larson plays Robert Honstein’s Grand Tour for Solo Piano

Saturday, July 22, 11:30am KIDS CAN TOO! Our annual perforance for kids. tickets

Saturday, July 29, 4:30pm – A tribute to Pauline Oliveros

Saturday, July 29, 8pm – Bang on a Can All-Stars ROAD TRIP
Bang on a Can co-artistic directors Michael Gordon, David Lang, and Julia Wolfe have collaborated to create  Road Trip, an evening-length work for the Bang on a Can All-Stars, directed by Michael Counts with rock show lighting and projections designed by CandyStations.  The piece is about journeys and people who make them. Physical journeys, geographical journeys, emotional journeys, spiritual journeys.  There is a road, but it is no simple highway. tickets

Sunday, July 30, 4:30pm – Mark Stewart and festival fellows perform on the spectacularly original instruments of Gunnar Schoenbeck, an new exhibit at MASS MoCA, curated by Mark!

Monday, July 31, 4:30pm WORLD PREMIERE COMPOSER CONCERT Over 40 young composers and performers from around the world debut NINE NEW WORKS written especially for the festival.

Tuesday, Aug 1, 4:30pm – Music from Central Asia – Musicians from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan perform on traditional instruments from their countries, including the chopo choor, rubab, and dombra.

Wednesday, Aug 2, 4:30pm – Festival fellows perform the sextet version of Philip Glass‘ monumental Symphony #3, and the minimalist classic Music for Similar Motion

Wednesday, Aug 2, 7pm CONCERT AT THE LAKE Our annual blow-out avant-variety show!! Bring a blanket! WINDSOR LAKE, NORTH ADAMS | FREE

Thursday, Aug 3, 4:30pm – Festival fellows perform works by a pioneer of electronic and interactive music, George Lewis.

Thursday, Aug 3, 7:30pm  – A special concert with this year’s guest composer, Dutch master Louis Andriessen.

Aug 3, 4 – 10pm AFTER HOURS AT THE CHALET Spontaneous music with the fellows in our summer beer garden, which careens wildly from bluegrass to jazz to salsa to avant-ballads.

Friday, Aug 4, 4:30pm – Festival fellows perform music by downtown New York’s alt-vocal maverick Meredith Monk.

Saturday, Aug 5, 4–10pm BANG ON A CAN MARATHON
More musical “happening” than concert, the Bang on a Can Marathon closes out the Festival in suitably audacious style. The eclectic program includes works from our 2017 guest artist Louis Andriessen, as well as Steve Reich, Jeffrey Brooks, Michael Gordon, Judd Greenstein, David Lang, Vanessa Lann, Mary Jane Leach, Gyorgi Ligeti, Nicole Lizee, Dmitri Tymoczko, Lois V Vierk, and Julia Wolfe. Share the experience with hundreds of adventurous listeners, dozens of brilliant performers, great food and drink and of course, big bold art EVERYwhere. tickets

More information on the summer festival on the