Press Quotes
“Long Play has been around only since last year, but it is already the most important classical music festival in New York City.” – NY Times
“Perhaps the most radical notion that has taken root thanks to Bang on a Can is that of success through generosity, with composers attending each other’s concerts, playing each other’s music and founding record labels that foster new voices.” – NY Times
“And if there’s one thing to celebrate about Bang on a Can (other than the fabulous music), it is the warm sense of community: the vibe was something like a family reunion, with the house filled by students, founders, Bang on a Can Summer Festival alumni, composers and performers, and of course enthusiasts and supporters.” – I Care If You Listen
Articles
Long Play Rises to the Top of New York Classical Music Festivals
Published May 7, 2023
New York Times
“Long Play has been around only since last year, but it is already the most important classical music festival in New York City.” “…the scope of this organization’s ambition has…
Prophets of Possibility: Bang on a Can Is Building a Musical Cadre of American Experimentalists
Published April 28, 2022
Strings Magazine
“There’s a solidity to Bang on a Can.”
Composers Give New Shape to Ornette Coleman’s Jazz
Published April 27, 2022
New York Times
A group of artists are reimagining the 1959 album “The Shape of Jazz to Come” for Bang on a Can’s Long Play festival.
As Bang on a Can Returns, a New Generation Rises
Published August 1, 2021
New York Times
“Venturing back to live performances and finding a classical music institution in rude health can be like putting on a pair of old jeans and discovering, with relief, an easy…
How a Scrappy Arts Group Survived the ’90s
Published February 17, 2021
New York Times
“‘When things are tough all around us, we dream,’ the composers Michael Gordon, David Lang and Julia Wolfe wrote in a letter to potential donors in 1996.”
How Bang on a Can helped remake the world of new music
Published February 15, 2021
SF Chronicle Datebook
Bang on a Can succeeded in chipping away at the abiding problem of 20th century music — the lingering alienation and mistrust between composers and audiences.
David Lang’s ‘the loser’ brought to brilliant life through the hypnotic Rod Gilfry
Published February 23, 2019
Los Angeles Times
“And what assures Lang’s hypnotic opera of being an inescapable winner is a mesmerizingly virtuosic performance by Rod Gilfry destined for the annals of opera.”
With Protest and Fire, an Oratorio Mourns a Tragedy
Published January 24, 2019
New York Times
NYTimes reviews Julia Wolfe’s Fire in my Mouth world premiere with the NY Philharmonic.
Bang on a Can: The 2018 People’s Commissioning Fund Concert
Published February 28, 2018
I Care If You Listen
Review of the 2018 Peoples Commissioning Fund concert at Merkin Hall, by Tristan McKay. “And if there’s one thing to celebrate about Bang on a Can (other than the fabulous…
Bang on a Can at 30
Published October 26, 2017
San Francisco Classical Voice
Bang on a Can at 30 – an article in 2-parts by Allan Kozinn! Part 1 – Creating the Space “In May 1987, David Lang, Julia Wolfe, and Michael Gordon…
A Dazzling Chinese Singer’s Riveting Song Cycle
Published July 15, 2017
New York Times
Review from Anthony Tommasini of the NY Times. Cloud River Mountain was “written for the virtuosic Ms. Gong and the Bang on a Can All-Stars ensemble, who performed this compellingly…
At 30, Bang on a Can Still Seethes With Energy
Published April 20, 2017
New York Times
Feature by Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim “Perhaps the most radical notion that has taken root thanks to Bang on a Can is that of success through generosity, with composers attending each…
‘Steel Hammer’ bangs out a spectacularly inventive social message at UCLA’s Royce Hall
Published October 24, 2015
Los Angeles Times
Review – ‘Steel Hammer’ bangs out a spectacularly inventive social message at UCLA’s Royce Hall “An extraordinarily potent collaboration between composer Julia Wolfe and director Anne Bogart”
Bang on a Can Marathon Stays as Eclectic and Playful as Ever
Published June 21, 2015
New York Times
The NY Times review of the Bang on a Can Marathon 2015 at the Brookfield Place Winter Garden. Special Support provided by the Howard Gilman Foundation, ASCAP and Arts Brookfield.
This Woman just won the Pulitzer Prize for Music
Published April 23, 2015
Forbes
A Julia Wolfe feature in Forbes Magazine for her 2015 award of the Pulitzer Prize, for Anthracite Fields.
Asphalt Orchestra Owns The Pixies’ “Surfer Rosa”
Published October 20, 2014
WNYC
New Sounds reviews Asphalt Orchestra Plays Pixies: Surfer Rosa on Cantaloupe Music.
OneBeat’s music buffet is set on a multicultural table
Published October 16, 2014
San Jose Mercury News
San Jose Mercury News features OneBeat 2014 residency and tour.
Bang on a Can connects musical, visual works at Mass MoCA
Published July 24, 2014
Boston Globe
The Boston Globe features the 2014 Bang on a Can Summer Festival at MASS MoCA.
From Roars to Rhythmic Mallets, a Day for Savoring Exploration
Published June 23, 2014
New York Times
The New York Times reviews the 2014 Bang on a Can Marathon.
For Ensembles and Singers, a Night of Backbreaking Labor
Published June 1, 2014
New York Times
The New York Times reviews the NY Premiere of Julia Wolfe’s Anthracite Fields featuring the Bang on a Can All-Stars and The Choir of Trinity Wall Street.