STEEL HAMMER PROGRAM NOTES AND CREDITS
Steel Hammer
Music and Text by Julia Wolfe
Some Say
The States
Destiny
Mountain
Characteristics
Polly Ann
The Race
Winner
Lord Lord
Steel Hammer was commissioned by Bang on a Can with generous support from Maria and Robert A. Skirnick and Carnegie Hall.
Bang on a Can All-Stars:
Robert Black, bass
Vicky Chow, piano and melodica
David Cossin, percussion
Arlen Hlusko, cello
Mark Stewart, electric guitar, banjo, mountain dulcimer, harmonica
Ken Thomson, clarinets and harmonica
Andrew Cotton. sound engineer
-with-
Rebecca L. Hargrove, voice
Sonya Headlam, voice
Molly Netter, voice
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Steel Hammer is a meditation on over 200 versions of the John Henry 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. Many of the facts are unclear: some say that he was from West Virginia; some say he was from South Carolina. Some have said that his fate was set before he picked up a hammer, that his woman’s name was Liza Jane or Polly Ann – that Polly drove steel just like a man. But regardless of the details, John Henry, wielding a steel hammer, faced the onslaught of the industrial age as his super-human strength is challenged in a contest to out-dig an engine.
I drew upon the extreme variations of the story, fragmenting and weaving the contradictory versions of the ballad that have circulated since the late 1800s into a new whole – at times meditating on single words or phrases – in order to tell the story of the story and to embody the simultaneous diverse paths it traveled. The Bang on a Can All-Stars add a slew of instruments to their usual line up – mountain dulcimer, wooden bones, banjo, harmonicas, and body percussion, as well as a dynamic trio of three female voices, to tell the tale.
– Julia Wolfe
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TEXT:
SOME SAY
Some say he’s from
some say he
some say he’s from
some say
some say he
say he
he
THE STATES
Georgia
Tennessee
Columbus, Ohio
Kentucky
Alabama
New Jersey
Yew Pine Mountains
Mississippi
Mountain
West Virginia
South Carolina
DESTINY
John Henry
was a little boy
sitting on his papa’s knee
John Henry
was a little man
sitting on his mama’s knee
a baby boy
sitting on his daddy’s knee
John Henry
he said, “I‘m gonna be a steel drivin’ man.”
He picked up his hammer and a little piece of steel
He said, “This hammer’s gonna be the death of me.”
MOUNTAIN
The mountain was so tall
John Henry was so small
CHARACTERISTICS
He was small
He was tall
He was black
He was white
He was true
He was false
He was two hundred pounds
He was two twenty-five
He’s a worker
Convict
Singer
Thirty-five years
Twenty-two
Fifty
Cotton picker
Steel Driver (hammer, hammer, steel, steel)
He was true
He was false
He was six feet tall
He was five foot one
He was tall
He was small
He was small
He was tall
POLLY ANN
John Henry had a little woman
And her name was
Polly Ann, Mary Ann, Julie Ann, Sary Ann, Sally Ann,
Martha Ann, Liza Ann, Lucy Ann,
Mary Magdelena, Magdelena
John Henry had a little woman
and she was all dressed in blue,
dressed in red,
red, blue, black
John Henry’s woman said to him,
“My darling Johnny, I’ve been true.”
true to you, true to you
John Henry had a little woman
and her name was Ida Red,
and her name was Liza Jane,
and her name was Maggadee,
Polly Ann, Mary Ann, Julie Ann, Sary Ann, Sally Ann,
Martha Ann, Liza Ann, Lucy Ann,
Mary Magdelena, Magdelena
Ida Red, Maggadee, Liza Jane,
Polly
When John Henry he took sick to bed,
then Polly drove steel just like a man.
THE RACE
The captain told John Henry
“gonna bring that steam drill ‘round”
John Henry told the captain
“a man ain’t nothin’ but a man”
nothin’, nothin’, nothin’
but a man, but a man
John Henry on the right side
the steam drill’s on the left
right, left, right, left
“Before I let your steam drill beat me down,
I’ll hammer my fool self to death.”
nine pound hammer
ten pound hammer
twelve pound hammer
twenty pound hammer
two nine pound hammers
two twenty pound hammers
sixteen pound hammer
hammer, hammer, hammer, hammer
WINNER
The man who invented the steam drill,
he thought he was mighty fine.
John Henry sunk the steel fourteen feet,
while the steam drill only made nine,
Lord Lord
LORD LORD
Lord Lord
This old hammer rings like silver
This old hammer shines like gold
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About the artists:
Julia Wolfe (composer) Julia Wolfe’s music is distinguished by an intense physicality and a relentless power that pushes performers to extremes and demands attention from the audience. She draws inspiration from folk, classical, and rock genres, bringing a modern sensibility to each while simultaneously tearing down the walls between them.
The 2019 world premiere of Fire in my mouth, a large-scale work for orchestra and women’s chorus, by the New York Philharmonic with The Crossing and the Young People’s Chorus of New York City, received extensive acclaim — one reviewer called the work “a monumental achievement in high musical drama, among the most commandingly imaginative and emotively potent works of any kind that I’ve ever experienced.” (the Nation magazine) The work is the third in a series of compositions about the American worker: 2009’s Steel Hammer examines the folk-hero John Henry, and the 2015 Pulitzer prize-winning work, Anthracite Fields, a concert-length oratorio for chorus and instruments, draws on oral histories, interviews, speeches, and more to honor the people who persevered and endured in the Pennsylvania Anthracite coal region. Mark Swed of the LA Times wrote, Anthracite Fields “captures not only the sadness of hard lives lost…but also of the sweetness and passion of a way of daily life now also lost. The music compels without overstatement. This is a major, profound work.”
Recent works include Flower Power, a concerto for the Bang on a Can All-Stars co-commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Danish National Symphony, Oxygen for 12 flutes, commissioned by the National Flute Association, and premiered by twelve flute choirs (144 flutes); and a new large-scale work, Her Story, for orchestra with the women’s chamber choir Lorelei, which will receive multiple performances in the 2022-23 season with a consortium of five orchestras including the Nashville Symphony, Boston Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, Chicago Symphony, and National Symphony Orchestra.
Wolfe has written a major body of work for strings, from quartets to full orchestra. Her quartets “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.” (The New Yorker Magazine) Wolfe’s Cruel Sister for string orchestra, inspired by a traditional English ballad, was commissioned by the Munich Chamber Orchestra and received its U.S. premiere at the Spoleto Festival. Fuel for string orchestra is a collaboration with filmmaker Bill Morrison, and Spinning is a multi-media work written for cellist Maya Beiser with visuals by Laurie Olinder.
Wolfe has collaborated with theater artist Anna Deavere Smith, projection/scenic designer Jeff Sugg, filmmaker Bill Morrison, visual artist Laurie Olinder, and directors Anne Bogart, François Girard, and Anne Kauffman, among others. Her music has been heard at venues throughout the world, including Carnegie Hall, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Lincoln Center, Muziekgebouw (Netherlands), Southbank and Barbican Centres (UK), Settembre Musica (Italy), and Theatre de la Ville (France.) Wolfe’s music has been recorded on Decca Gold, Naxos, Cantaloupe Music, Teldec, Sony Classical, and Universal.
In addition to receiving the 2015 Pulitzer Prize in Music, Wolfe was a 2016 MacArthur Fellow. She received the 2015 Herb Alpert Award in Music, and was named Musical America’s 2019 Composer of the Year. Julia Wolfe is co-founder/co-artistic director of New York’s legendary music collective Bang on a Can, and she is Artistic Director of NYU Steinhardt Music Composition.
Her music is published by Red Poppy Music and G. Ricordi & Co., New York (ASCAP) and is distributed worldwide by the Universal Music Publishing Group.
Rebecca L. Hargrove (voice) Rebecca L. Hargrove is pleased to return to Steel Hammer after a successful virtual presentation with Cal Performances. This season she rejoined the Metropolitan Opera Chorus in the productions of Fire Shut up in My Bones (Blanchard), Die Meistersinger (Wagner), and Porgy and Bess (Gershwin). She is a 2020 “Best Opera Album” GRAMMY Award Winner for her participation in the 2019-2020 Met Opera production of Porgy and Bess. She has also been featured in the companies of Evita and Cabin in the Sky at New York City Center. In the 2019-2020 season Rebecca starred in The New York Times Critic’s Pick performances of Acquanetta as Acquanetta at Bard Summerscape, The Grey Land mono-opera as The Mother at Roulette Intermedium (album available on all streaming platforms), and as Yum-Yum in The Mikado with New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players. Previous engagements include Two Wings: The Music of Black America in Migration with Jason Moran and Alicia Hall-Moran at Carnegie Hall, In the Parlour as Nellie Quander at The National Black Theater, and a series of new plays at The Lucille Lortel Foundation. Follow her updates at www.RebeccaLHargrove.com and on Instagram @Rhargrov.
Sonya Headlam (voice) Soprano Sonya Headlam enjoys a varied career as a soloist, chamber, and ensemble singer of a diverse range of repertoire from the Baroque period to the 21st century. She is a member of the Choir of Trinity Wall Street and performs regularly with the Vocalis Consort and the Raritan Players. She joins the Raritan Players on the recently released recording, In the Salon of Madame Brillon (Acis, 2021). Her most recent solo appearances include Handel’s Messiah with The Choir of Trinity Wall Street and the Trinity Baroque Orchestra, as well as with TENET Vocal Artists. Upcoming solo appearances this season include debuts with Apollo’s Fire and at the Grand Rapids Bach Festival. Sonya holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Rutgers University, Mason Gross School of the Arts, where she has also worked as a part-time lecturer in the Department of Music.
Molly Netter (voice) A versatile and joyous musician, Canadian-American soprano Molly Netter enlivens complex and beautiful music, both old and new, with “staggering virtuosity and versatility” (Chicago Classical Review) and “clear, beautiful tone and vivacious personality” (NY Times). She has performed as a soloist with Chicago Symphony Orchestra MusicNOW, the Boston Early Music Festival, Apollo’s Fire Baroque Orchestra, the Albany Symphony, the New World Symphony, Smithsonian Chamber Orchestra, and Heartbeat Opera, among others. Her voice can be heard on five GRAMMY-nominated albums since 2017. Molly is an active performer, educator, and curator of new music, regularly commissioning new works by living composers. Recent collaborators include David Lang, Julia Wolfe, Amy Beth Kirsten, Doug Balliett, Katherine Balch, Molly Joyce, and Jessica Meyer. Notable chamber performance highlights include premier performances of Pulitzer-winning operas Angel’s Bone (Du Yun, 2015) and PRISM (Ellen Reid, 2017). In addition, Molly was a featured curator/performer on Trinity Wall Street’s 2018 acclaimed “Time’s Arrow Festival,” programming an eclectic evening of Barbara Strozzi paired with newly commissioned contemporary works. In 2020 she began commissioning an entirely new repertoire for self-accompanied singer and clavicytherium, emphasizing the florid voice, early music vocal techniques and improvisation as a bridge between style and genre. Molly holds a BM in composition and contemporary voice from Oberlin Conservatory and an MM in early music voice from the Yale Institute of Sacred Music. She is currently on voice faculty at the Oberlin Baroque Performance Institute. www.mollynettervoice.com.
Bang on a Can All-Stars
Formed in 1992, the Bang on a Can All-Stars are recognized worldwide for their ultra-dynamic live performances and recordings of today’s most innovative music. Freely crossing the boundaries between classical, jazz, rock, world and experimental music, this six-member amplified ensemble has consistently forged a category-defying identity. With a massive repertoire of works written specifically for the group’s distinctive instrumentation and style of performance, the All-Stars have become a genre in their own right. Performing each year throughout the U.S. and internationally, the group’s celebrated projects include their landmark recording of Brian Eno’s ambient classic Music for Airports, as well as live performances with Philip Glass, Don Byron, Iva Bittova, Thurston Moore, and others. Current and recent project highlights include “In C,” a new dance collaboration with Sasha Waltz & Guests based on Terry Riley’s minimalist classic; Dance Party, a brand new multimedia concert pairing composers and choreographers; MEMORY GAME, a new record release and touring program featuring legendary composer-singer Meredith Monk; Julia wolfe’s Flower Power for Bang on a Can All-Stars and orchestra, a multimedia concert exploring the sonic landscape of the late 1960s; Road Trip, an immersive concert collaboratively composed by Michael Gordon, David Lang and Julia Wolfe to commemorate the 30+ year journey of Bang on a Can; performances and a recording of Julia Wolfe’s Pulitzer Prize winning Anthracite Fields for the All-Stars and guest choir; Field Recordings, a major multi-media project featuring over 30 commissioned works by pioneering musicians from across all genres and borders; Cloud River Mountain, a collaboration featuring Chinese superstar singer Gong Linna; and more. The All-Stars record on Cantaloupe Music and have released past recordings on Sony, Universal and Nonesuch.
Robert Black (bass) Robert Black tours the world creating unheard of music for the double bass, collaborating with the most adventurous composers, musicians, dancers, artists, actors, and technophiles from all walks of life. He is a founding and current member of the Bang on a Can All-Stars. Current projects include First Fridays with Robert Black, a monthly series of streamed solo bass recitals; a 10-channel audio/video double bass installation reflecting on the Anthropocene with sound artists Brian House and Sue Huang, filmed at the Freshkills landfill in NYC; an outdoor environmental work for 24 basses with composer Eve Beglarian; and commissions from Carman Moore, Joan Tower, Nick Dunston, Žibuolkė Martinaitytė, Krists Auznieks, Jakhongir Shukurov, and Daniel Sabzghabaei. Solo recordings include Philip Glass, Bass Partita and Poetry (Orange Mountain Music), Possessed (Cantaloupe Records) Modern American Bass (New World Records), The Bass Music of Christian Wolff and Giacinto Scelsi (Mode Records), and State of the Bass (O.O. Discs).
Vicky Chow (piano) Hong Kong/Canadian pianist Vicky Chow (she/her) has been described as “brilliant” (New York Times) and “one of our era’s most brilliant pianists” (Pitchfork). Since joining the Bang on a Can All-Stars in 2009, she has collaborated and worked with artists/ensembles such as the International Contemporary Ensemble, The Knights, Tyshawn Sorey, Andy Akiho, John Zorn, Steve Reich, Wet Ink Ensemble, Yarn/Wire, Momenta Quartet, to name a few. About her recording of Michael Gordon’s Sonatra,The New Yorker wrote, “Sonatra is a milestone of composition, and Vicky Chow’s recording of it is a milestone of pianism.” Her album Tristan Perich: Surface Image released in 2013 on New Amsterdam Records was among the top 10 Avant Music albums in Rolling Stone. In 2022, she will be releasing three new solo albums (Philip Glass: Piano Etudes Book 1 in celebration of his 85th Birthday in 2022, Jane Antonia Cornish: Sierra, and Michael Gordon: July) on the Cantaloupe Label and her other recordings can be found on the Nonesuch, New Amsterdam, Tzadik, among others. During the pandemic, she worked with Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company on a new production “Afterwardsness” which premiered at the Park Avenue Armory October 2020 and toured Massachusetts and Minneapolis in Fall 2021. Upcoming performances in Spring 2022 include premieres of a new concerto by Krists Auznieks in Latvia, Tristan Perich: Surface Image in Paris, as well album release concerts at Roulette in Brooklyn. Originally from Vancouver, Canada, she is based in Brooklyn, NY. She serves as faculty at the Bang on a Can Summer Institute and has been on faculty at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. She is on the Board of Advisors for Composers Now, and is also a mentor at The Juilliard School. A graduate of The Juilliard School (B.M. ’05, M.M ’07 Piano Performance) and The Manhattan School of Music (M.M. Contemporary Performance ’09), Ms. Chow is a Yamaha Artist. vickychow.com
David Cossin (percussion) David Cossin was born and raised in Queens, NY, and studied classical percussion at the Manhattan School of Music. His interest in classical percussion, drum set, non-western hand drumming, composition, and improvisation has led to performances across a broad spectrum of musical and artistic forms. David has recorded and performed internationally with Steve Reich and Musicians, Philip Glass, Yo-Yo Ma, Meredith Monk, Tan Dun, Cecil Taylor, Talujon Percussion Quartet, and the trio Real Quiet, as well as with Sting on his Symphonicity world tour. Theater work includes Blue Man Group, Mabou Mines, and projects with the director Peter Sellars. David was featured as the solo percussionist in Tan Dun’s award-winning score to the film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. As a soloist, he has performed with orchestras throughout the world including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Orchestra Radio France, and more. His sonic installations have been presented in New York, Italy and Germany, and he is also an active producer, composer, and instrument inventor, expanding the limits of traditional percussion. David teaches percussion at the Aaron Copland School of Music and the Manhattan School of Music’s Contemporary Performance Program.
Arlen Hlusko (cello) Hailed for her “sublime cello prowess” (Take Effect), “absorbing originality” (Gramophone), and “mesmerizing beauty” (NY Music Daily), internationally acclaimed Canadian cellist Arlen Hlusko is a dynamic, versatile young artist who has performed extensively as soloist and chamber musician across North America, Asia, and Europe. Newly appointed cellist of the Bang on a Can All-Stars, Arlen is also a laureate of numerous competitions, Grammy-award winner for her collaboration with The Crossing, and recent alumna of the Curtis Institute of Music and Carnegie Hall’s Ensemble Connect. In addition to the All-Stars, Arlen regularly performs with several ensembles based on the East Coast, including Dolce Suono Ensemble, Intersection, and Frisson, and was recently featured on CBC’s “30 under 30”. She has been a featured performer with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, BBC Concert Orchestra, and the National Arts Centre Orchestra, among others. Arlen has also performed at several preeminent summer festivals, including Spoleto USA Bank of America Chamber Music, Music from Angel Fire, Tippet Rise, and Bay Chamber Concerts. As a teacher, she has served on faculty of Curtis Summerfest, New York Philharmonic and Philadelphia Orchestra Teaching Artists, and given masterclasses in USA, Canada, France, and Germany. Committed to using her music to connect with and serve her community, Arlen founded her own interactive chamber music concert series, Philadelphia Performances for Autism, and is involved with several communities in Philadelphia & NYC, including Carnegie Hall’s “Musical Connections” at Sing Sing Correctional Facility.
Mark Stewart (guitar) Multi-instrumentalist, singer, song leader, composer and instrument designer Mark Stewart has been heard around the world performing old and new music. Since 1998, he has recorded and toured as guitarist and Musical Director with Paul Simon. Mark is a founding member of the Bang on a Can All-Stars and the duo Polygraph Lounge with keyboard & theremin wizard Rob Schwimmer. He has also worked with Steve Reich, Sting, Anthony Braxton, Bob Dylan, Wynton Marsalis, Meredith Monk, Stevie Wonder, Phillip Glass, Iva Bittova, Bruce Springsteen, Terry Riley, Ornette Coleman, Don Byron, Joan Baez, Hugh Masakela, Paul McCartney, Cecil Taylor, Bill Frisell, Jimmy Cliff, Charles Wourinen, the Everly Brothers, Steve Gadd, Fred Frith, Alison Krauss, David Krakauer, Bobby McFerrin, David Byrne, James Taylor, The Roches, Aaron Neville, Bette Midler, and Marc Ribot. He is the inventor of the WhirlyCopter, a bicycle-powered Pythagorean choir of singing tubes and the Big Boing, a 24 ft long sonic banquet table Mbira that seats 30 children playing 490 found objects and is a Visiting Lecturer in musical instrument design at MIT. Mark is also a curator at MASS MoCA of the immersive Gunnar Schonbeck exhibit of musical instruments and co-founder of soundstewArt, a company that designs instruments, immersive sound environments & community music making experiences. He lives in Brooklyn, NY & North Adams, MA, playing, singing & writing popular music, semi-popular music and unpopular music, whilst designing instruments that everyone can play.
Ken Thomson (composer, clarinet and bass clarinet) is widely regarded for his ability to blend a rich variety of influences and styles into his own musical language while maintaining a voice unmistakably his own. He has a growing catalog of music written for ensembles of differing sizes, and has toured with and released a number of albums with groups that he has created. His bands “Sextet,” and, before that, “Slow/Fast,” combine the sounds of jazz and contemporary music in through-composed small-group settings; with them, he has released multiple acclaimed recordings and toured across the US and Europe. Two recordings of his chamber music are also available – “Restless” with Karl Larson and Ashley Bathgate, and “Thaw” with JACK Quartet. With the newly-formed Anzû Quartet, he has recorded his own work as well as Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time, for release in 2022. He is also active as a freelance clarinetist and saxophonist, performing with Ensemble Signal, International Contemporary Ensemble, Novus, and more. He is on faculty at the Bang on a Can Summer Institute; he endorses D’Addario Woodwinds reeds, F. Arthur Uebel clarinets and Yanagisawa saxophones (Conn-Selmer). Ken currently splits his time between Brooklyn and Berlin. www.ktonline.net.
Andrew Cotton (sound engineer) In his role as tour manager and engineer, Andrew Cotton works closely with both composers and musicians in creating new works. Cotton works closely with several major producers, specializing in contemporary music projects with artists and concert series as diverse as Elvis Costello and John Harle, the BBC Promenade Series, Meltdown, George Russell, Carla Bley, Talvin Singh, Cold Cut, KT Tunstall, Elvis Costello, John Harle, Andy Sheppard, Carla Bley, Angelique Kidjo, Manu Dibango, District Six, Iva Bittova, Philip Glass, Steve Reich among others. He regularly collaborates with composers Michael Gordon, Julia Wolfe and David Lang on their pieces for the All-Stars as well as large ensemble, dance and theatre pieces. He also act as technical manager and sound collaborator with percussionist Evelyn Glennie DBE. As a sound designer he has designed The Carbon Copy Building –Turin, New York, Hamburg and Liverpool; Chaos – New York; The New Yorkers – Brooklyn Academy of Music; Ballet Tech –Joyce Theatre NY 1997-1999, Bang on a Can Marathons 1997 – 2016, Hearing Voices – Jocelyn Pook 2016 and 2017, Piano Circus 2015-present , Steel Hammer 2015-present, BBC Scotland Hogmanay 2015-present, riSE and fLY 2015, Road Trip 2017, 2017-18 among others.
About Steel Hammer
Steel Hammer is a concert work with a continuing evolutionary journey over many years. Originally commissioned by Carnegie Hall, the work premiered on tour in the US in the fall of 2009 featuring Bang on a Can All-Stars and Norway’s renowned Trio Mediaeval. It was a runner-up for the 2010 Pulitzer Prize and was recorded and released on Cantaloupe Music in 2015. In 2015, Wolfe teamed up with acclaimed American director Anne Bogart for a dramatized stage production incorporating Wolfe’s complete musical work Steel Hammer and text from four remarkable American playwrights – Kia Corthron, Will Power, Carl Hancock Rux, and Regina Taylor. Directed by Anne Bogart, the fully staged production featured the Bang on a Can All-Stars alongside the celebrated actors of SITI Company and was developed and premiered at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts/University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and was commissioned by the Krannert Center and by BAM for the 2015 Next Wave Festival. In 2021, Bang on a Can co-produced a film version with Cal Performances at the University of California, Berkeley and film-maker Jeremy Robins, adding the superb musicianship and distinctly American vocal sound of singers Rebecca L. Hargrove, Sonya Headlam, and Molly Netter. These three singers will continue to appear live in concert with the Bang on a Can All-Stars.
About Bang on a Can
Founded in 1987 by composers Michael Gordon, David Lang, and Julia Wolfe, Bang on a Can has been creating an international community dedicated to innovative music, wherever it is found, and has grown from a one-day New York-based Marathon concert to a multi-faceted performing arts organization with a broad range of year-round international activities. In addition to its festivals LOUD Weekend at MASS MoCA and LONG PLAY, current projects include live.bangonacan.org, a digital streaming platform launched during the pandemic with an ongoing schedule of live streamed concerts and world premiere performances of new commissions; The People’s Commissioning Fund, a membership program to commission emerging composers; the Bang on a Can All-Stars, who tour to major festivals and concert venues around the world every year; recording projects; the Bang on a Can Summer Music Festival at MASS MoCA, a professional development program for young composers and performers led by today’s pioneers of experimental music; Asphalt Orchestra, Bang on a Can’s extreme street band that offers mobile performances re-contextualizing unusual music; Found Sound Nation, a new technology-based musical outreach program now partnering with the State Department of the United States of America to create OneBeat, a revolutionary, post-political residency program that uses music to bridge the gulf between young American musicians and young musicians from developing countries; cross-disciplinary collaborations and projects with DJs, visual artists, choreographers, filmmakers and more. Each new program has evolved to answer specific challenges faced by today’s musicians, composers and audiences, in order to make innovative music widely accessible and wildly received. Bang on a Can’s inventive and aggressive approach to programming and presentation has created a large and vibrant international audience made up of people of all ages who are rediscovering the value of contemporary music. Bang on a Can has also recently launched its new digital archive, CANLAND, an extensive archive of its recordings, videos, posters, program books, and more. Thirty-three years of collected music and associated ephemera have been digitized and archived online and is publicly accessible in its entirety at www.canland.org. Bang on a Can has created a large and vibrant international audience made up of people of all ages who are rediscovering the value of contemporary music.
More info at: www.bangonacan.org