Bang on a Can brings its polyrhythmic virtuosity and all-world versatility to the Beijing Modern Music Festival, celebrating the breadth of the genre-busting Bang on a Can sound with two boundary bending programs of music by co-founders and artistic directors Michael Gordon, David Lang, and Julia Wolfe.
Performed by the Bang on a Can Festival Ensemble, a band of cutting-edge New York new music performers led by veteran Bang on a Can violinist Todd Reynolds with virtuoso performers from the annual Bang on a Can Summer Festival @ MASS MoCA, including David Friend (piano), Mariel Roberts (cello), Jessica Schmitz (flute), Ashley Smith (clarinet), and Ellery Trafford (percussion), the first concert on May 18 features the Festival Ensemble joining forces with the Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra for David Lang’s pierced, Michael Gordon’s Rewriting Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony, and a world premiere arrangement of Julia Wolfe’s Big Beautiful Dark and Scary for six soloists and orchestra.