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Touring Programs 2008-2009-2010

Residency

Discography

Tech Rider

Since its inception in 1987, the Bang on a Can Festival has been discovering and presenting the most exciting performers who have committed their lives to the music of our time. Over seventeen years of the Festival, Bang on a Can has worked with many adventurous, virtuosic, and dynamic performers who are at home with the diverse styles that exist within music today. From the outset of the Festival, six players in particular kept coming back. They were among the Festival's finest artists - six of the most accomplished performers of new music in the world. With these six players the Festival created the BANG ON A CAN ALL-STARS.

The instrumentation of the Bang on a Can All-Stars is unique: clarinets, electric guitar, cello, bass, keyboards, drums and percussion. Part classical ensemble, part rock band, part jazz band, the All-Stars have a flexibility that represents the vision of the festival. Artistic directors, Michael Gordon, David Lang and Julia Wolfe believe in the communicative power of a wide range of music from a new generation of composers and performers. The Bang on a Can All-Stars first major collaboration as an ensemble came in 1989 and since that time, their appearances have grown from being a regular feature of the Bang on a Can Festival to year-round appearances at concert halls and festivals worldwide. Over 15 years, the Bang on a Can All-Stars have established an international reputation for their unparalleled performances of music from the cutting edge.

Since 1994, the ensemble has appeared annually in New York City at Lincoln Center on the Great Performer's Series where they have pioneered countless premieres of adventurous new works. Highlights include:

• the 1998 sold-out performances of the All-Stars’ innovative live arrangement of Brian Eno's ambient classic "Music for Airports"

• a ground-breaking collaboration with New York legend Meredith Monk in 1999

• new commissions from jazz giant Don Byron and Burmese Pat Waing (barrel drum) virtuoso Kyaw Kyaw Naing in 2002

• a featured festival program of works by Dutch-master Louis Andriessen and a live performance with Terry Riley of his classic minimalist score in 2004.

In addition to these events, the All-Stars’ season in New York has consistently grown with a multitude of additional performances each year including visits to the Brooklyn Academy of Music's 'Next Wave Festival', Carnegie Hall, the World Financial Center, the Miller Theater, the Knitting Factory and more.

Touring History

Through these highly acclaimed New York concerts, the All-Stars national and international profile has continued to grow and the group has annually increased its extensive tour schedule. In the U.S., the Bang on a Can All-Stars have captivated audiences at venues such as The Kennedy Center, the Walker Arts Center, UCLA, Hancher Auditorium, La Jolla Chamber Music Society, Duke University, the Yerba Buena Arts Center, and many others.

In Europe, some cities are fast becoming second homes as the Bang on a Can All-Stars have appeared annually in London at venues and festivals such as the Barbican Centre, the Royal Albert Hall/BBC Proms, the South Bank Centre and Meltdown Festival; in Amsterdam at the Holland Festival, the Concertgebouw, Paradiso and Schipol Airport; in Paris at Theatre de la Ville and Pompidou Centre; and in Vienna at the Konzerthaus for Wien Modern and the Vienna Spring Festival. Other festival appearances include the Schleswig-Holstein Festival, Venice Bienale, Settembre Musica in Turin, Warsaw Autumn, Ircam Festival in Paris, Prague Spring, Istanbul Festival, Ultima Festival in Oslo plus ground-breaking visits to Berlin, Rome, Milan, Moscow, Athens, Stockholm, Helsinki, Tallinn, Vilnius, Krakow and more.

Outside of the U.S. and Europe, the All-Stars have been presented on the Israel Festival, New Zealand International Festival of the Arts, Ilkhom Festival of Contemporary Music in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, the Addelaide Festival in Australia and the Sydney Olympic Arts Festival where they premiered a program of concertos commissioned for the All-Stars by the Australian Chamber Orchestra and performed with the ACO at the Sydney Opera House.

The growth of the Bang on a Can All-Stars is paralleled by a growth in the repertoire that they play. Because of their dedication to music that is being composed right now, the ensemble has become very active commissioners of new work. Increasingly, their repertoire is made up of exciting new works from emerging and established composers. Not only does this create fresh challenges for players and audiences alike but it also insures that the Bang on a Can All-Stars are continually the champions of an evolving list of the music of our time.

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Touring Programs 2008-2009-2010

Bang on a Can All-Stars & Trio Mediaeval perform Julia Wolfe’s Steel Hammer

Steel Hammer is inspired by composer Julia Wolfe’s love for the legends and music of Appalachia. Culling from both the music and oral traditions of the region, the piece focuses on the legend of John Henry, immortalized for his race against 'the machine'. With its over 200 versions and myriad of differing details, the tale has been embraced by a wide variety of American communities in the cause and glorification of the worker.     

Employing the rich instrumental colors of the region, the Bang on a Can All-Stars will add a chorus of instruments including mountain dulcimers, wooden bones, banjo, steel hammers, and more.  Trio Medieval, with their pure and direct sound, will tell the timeless tale.  The result is a fusion of musical worlds that meld to create a new genre of art balladry.

David Lang/Glenn Kotche

Drummer / Composer Glenn Kotche of the mega-band WILCO brings his music and his drumsticks to two new works commissioned by Bang on a Can, plus the very latest piece by 2008 Pulitzer Prize winner (and Bang on a Can co-founder) David Lang. Bonus tracks - Steve Reich as you have never heard him before: very loud versions of classic Reich works, arranged for two drum sets by Kotche and Bang on a Can percussionist David Cossin.

Michael Gordon/Bill Frisell

All new music, all the time!  Grammy Award-winning composer and guitar god Bill Frisell challenges the All-Stars in the premiere of his newest composition, and may perform live on select occasions. The All-Stars also offer premiere performances of a new piece from Bang on a Can co-founder Michael Gordon, Decasia, just commissioned by Lincoln Center.

AND MORE!

Other notable new work to be offered during 2009-10 includes Autodreamographical Tales – a new collaboration with Terry Riley, brand new work by Oscar-award winning film composer Ryuichi Sakamoto, a premiere by Dutch master Louis Andriessen, new work by Lee Ranaldo and more.

Bang on a Can was founded in 1987 by composers Michael Gordon, David Lang, and Julia Wolfe as a 12-hour Marathon concert in a small but packed SoHo art gallery. This one-day experience has since grown into a multi-faceted institution with a worldwide following, becoming one of the most enduring and beloved forces in America’s new music scene. Bang on a Can now boasts a successful record label, Cantaloupe Music; a summer festival in the Berkshires, the Bang on a Can Summer Music Festival at MASS MoCA; a commissioning program, the People’s Commissioning Fund; and a resident ensemble that tours the world, the Bang on a Can All-Stars.

Yet all along, the annual Marathon has remained at the heart of Bang on a Can — a dazzling array of music by innovative composers, performed by the most dynamic players in the world, in front of a passionate and excitable audience. Over almost 20 years, the Marathon has grown and moved from art galleries to world-class performance venues, while remaining as informal, accessible, optimistic, egalitarian and inclusive as the day it began. It has been held at New York locations as disparate as La Mama, the NY Society for Ethical Culture, The Kitchen, Lincoln Center, the Brooklyn Academy of Music and Symphony Space. In June 2006, the New York presentation of the Bang on a Can Marathon at the Winter Garden launched an exciting new multi-year partnership with the River to River Festival and World Financial Center Arts & Events. The Marathon is presented annually in July at Mass MoCA in the Berkshires and has been presented internationally in Amsterdam and Hamburg and has spawned many extended concert programs of its kind throughout the US and abroad. Through the Marathon and other ventures, Bang on a Can has carved a welcome home for musical misfits and pioneers.

Nearly 1,000 pieces, more than 500 performers, and nearly 200 composers later, the Bang on a Can Marathon is still the premiere concert of its kind, drawing thousands of concert-goers and tens of thousands of radio listeners to each event.

Why a Marathon?

Michael Gordon, David Lang, and Julia Wolfe, taken from conversations with Deborah Artman
“In 1987 we were fresh out of school and looking for action. As young composers, we were part of a new generation and didn’t see any place to fit in. We looked around and noticed a bunch of other misfits—composers influenced equally by minimalism, classical music, Balinese Gamelan, Indian raga, bottle-neck blues, Peruvian folk music and rock and roll. Bang on a Can grew out of our need to discover just where the music of our generation would fit in.

We wanted to send a signal that something different was happening and that a new music event could be fun. We liked the marathon idea because it would give the concert a carnival atmosphere, an extravaganza of adventurous music. After tossing around a few names, Julia suggested ‘Bang on a Can’. We liked it because it wasn't pretentious. So on May 10, 1987, four hundred New Yorkers crowded into a little art gallery in SoHo to hear twelve hours of weird music and the first Bang on a Can Marathon was born. It was the music that really made the concert stand out. We programmed an eclectic mix of pieces, acknowledging both the revered masters of American music and young composers just starting out.

One thing that has always driven us is the possibility of hearing what is new and fresh in a piece of music without trying to put it into some kind of category. When you go into the record store, for example, all the different genres of music have their own rooms—rock, techno, classical, world, jazz. The music that interests us has always been the music that doesn't fit well into any of those rooms. Maybe the music belongs between rooms, or in the walls, or on the stairs between the floors.

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Residency

BANG on a CAN ORIGINS

(Julia Wolfe): When David Lang, Michael Gordon and I found ourselves in New York in 1986, we didn’t see an exciting outlet for our music.  Things were very polarized––academic music uptown, with audiences filled with new music specialists, a very critical atmosphere and everyone in tuxes, and downtown, another uniform, black t-shirts and another serious pretension.  Neither side was really fun, and there was a whole new generation of composers who didn’t fit in anywhere.

We wanted to provide a place for new music in society.  It wasn’t like other art.  People knew who the new painters were, the writers, the filmmakers.  But music was perceived as this elitist thing––academic, clever, scientific, inaccessible. Nobody cared if people came to the concerts, and the music reflected that attitude.  It got so removed from life.  It was important to us to find a new audience.

So we decided to make a happening.  The original idea was simple: to have fun with new music.  We put pieces together that were really strong and belonged to different ideologies or not to any ideology, defying category, falling between the cracks.  For over 13 years, Bang on a Can has been breaking down the traditional barriers that exist in concert repertoire between composers, performers and concert-goers.  Our innovative 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.

Our approach to residency activities runs parallel to our programming: the goal is to make today’s newest music accessible and fun, to invite participation and exchange and to challenge our audience’s definition of concert repertoire.  Here are some examples:

Please provide a location that is a short drive from the hotel/venue;

Masterclass:

One to two Bang on a Can All-Stars work with a student ensemble or soloists by listening, coaching, commenting, etc. on a piece performed by the students.  Bang on a Can can suggest a work to focus on (if given the instrumentation of the ensemble) or the ensemble/soloists can perform their own selection(s).  When choosing the latter, please provide a copy of the score in advance.

Length: approx. 90 minutes

• Appropriate level: high school or college

• # of participants: 2-20

• Tech requirements: TBA (if any)

WHAT’S NEW!: A Conversation and Demo with Players of Bang on a Can All-Stars

WHAT’S NEW! is a conversation led by one or two of the All-Stars centering on the newest developments in American concert music today.  A short demonstration of a particular piece or samples of different works provide a focal point for how the American concert repertoire has expanded to include sounds, performance styles and techniques that cross many musical genres including classical, rock, pop, jazz, experimental and more.  The activity is designed to develop as a free conversation or Q & A between the players and those in attendance.  The 'conversational' approach offers all of the participants a chance to take part, to share in the discussion and often help shape the direction in which the activity goes.  This is our most popular type of activity and it provides an excellent forum for exhibiting the newest opportunities that exist today for performers and how to prepare for them. 

• Length: approx. 50 – 60 minutes

• Appropriate age/level: any (we can tailor the activity appropriately)

• # of participants: 5 +

• Tech requirements: TBA; contingent upon which player(s) are selected for this activity (for example: electric guitarist requires an amp, pianist requires a piano)

WORKING IT OUT: A Performance Demonstration with the Bang on a Can All-Stars

WORKING IT OUT is a presentation by all of the All-Stars.  Bang on a Can will choose a piece that will provide the focus for a discussion intended to introduce the participants to ‘Bang on a Can’ music and performance style.  The group will talk about the work and their process of putting it together: how it came about, the commissioning process, working with the composer, what it takes to make a piece performance-ready, how they’ve come to interpret their individual parts, etc.

• Length: approx. 45 – 60 minutes.

• Appropriate age/level: high school and up

• # of participants: 15 +

• Space: A room large enough for the full ensemble to stage the ‘performance’ plus audience. 

Note: In most cases, an activity like this must be scheduled on a separate day from the main concert performance.

Instrument requirements for full ensemble Performance-Demo (subject to change):

• Grand Piano (no smaller than 7ft)

• Amps:

• Fender Guitar Amp

• Hartke Kickback Amp (cello) substitution possible

• Gallien-Kruger Bass Amp w/ 4x10 Cabinet (Bass) substitution possible

• Percussion:

• Vibraphone or Marimba

• Bass drum w/pedal

• Snare drum w/stand

Additional items TBA once repertoire has been determined

We are open to discussing alternatives to these examples as well so please feel free to contact us if you would like further information.

COLLABORATORS: A discussion with composers at Bang on a Can

COLLABORATORS is a discussion led by one or more of the founding composers and artistic directors of Bang on a Can – Michael Gordon, Julia Wolfe and David Lang.  The primary focus of the discussion is the history and evolution of Bang on a Can, the unique relationship shared by its three founders and the innovative strategies they have dreamed up to expand the opportunities available to composers today – many of them championed by Bang on a Can – such as our unparalleled commissioning program The People’s Commissioning Fund, our award winning comic-book opera The Carbon Copy Building (with celebrated cartoonist Ben Katchor), the Brian Eno/Music for Airports project, American Remix which combines contemporary classical repertoire with today’s hottest DJs, Shadow Bang with Balinese shadow puppet master I Wayan Wija, and numerous new projects with choreographers, theater companies and more.

• Length: approx. 45 – 60 minutes

• Appropriate age/level: college and up

• # of participants:  10 +

Note: Lang, Gordon and Wolfe do not ordinarily travel with the All-Stars on tour so a separate fee plus travel and accommodations must be negotiated for this type of activity.

Student Score Reading

The Student Score Reading program is an opportunity for young composers to hear their work performed by the Bang on a Can All-Stars, and to receive feedback on their compositions.

Requirements for the composers:

The work should be 5-8 minutes long and written for the instrumentation of the All-Stars (cello, clarinet, double bass, electric guitar, piano, percussion).

Bang on a Can requests 1 copy of each part and 7 copies of the score to be sent to the Bang on a Can office no later than 2 months prior to the residency date. Composers should include their contact info. The Faculty of the participating Institution can decide when they would like the composers to start writing, but the date for the new works to be received by Bang on a Can is firm.

The maximum number of scores we can accept for this program is three (3). If more than 3 student composers wish to participate, Faculty at the participating Institution will be responsible for selecting the 3 students.

Other requirements:

Space: A room large enough for the full ensemble to stage the reading plus audience. 

Note: In most cases, an activity like this must be scheduled on a separate day from the main concert performance.

Instrument requirements (subject to change):

• Grand Piano (no smaller than 7ft)

• Amps:

• Fender Guitar Amp

• Hartke Kickback Amp (cello) substitution possible

• Gallien-Kruger Bass Amp w/ 4x10 Cabinet (Bass) substitution possible

• Percussion:

• Vibraphone or Marimba

• Bass drum w/pedal

• Snare drum w/stand

Additional items TBA once repertoire has been determined

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Discography

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Technical Information

Please note: Additional equipment may be necessary; updated list with additions and/or subtractions will be sent out when the final program has been confirmed.

FOH

A speaker system capable of delivering 110dB(A) to all areas of the auditorium from 20 - 20000HZ without distortion with sub bass units (preferably driven from an auxiliary send).Particular attention should be given to side seats and extreme front seating.  Flown or part flown systems are preferable and also help to avoid audience sightline problems. Preferred brands Meyer, L-Acoustic, D&B & EAW.

Please: no “home made systems”. The whole system should be quiet and completely free of noise as the band have a very broad dynamic range, which can easily be compromised by a “noisy” system. The console must be positioned in the center area of the venue NOT under balcony or in booth.

A minimum 40ch desk with 4 band fully parametric eq. Phantom power to be available and switchable on each input channel and at least 6 auxiliary sends individually swithchable pre & post fade. Preferred brands Yamaha PM4000, Midas XL4/Heritage/XL200, Gamble, Crest or Soundcraft (Vienna 2 or above no Spirit range). No Mackie, Behringer or other semi-professional consoles.

FX

31 band graphic eq inserted on all outputs e.g. L,R Centre cluster, front fills etc. Klark Teknik, BSS, Ashley, Urei NO Yamaha Q2031/1031.

1          Lexicon PCM80

1          Lexicon PCM70

1            Yamaha SPX990/ Eventide H3000

8            channels compression BSS/Drawmer

4            channels gates Drawmer/BSS

1          CD player

1          DAT machine (playback and record)

Monitors

Minimum 24 input monitor console with at least 6 discrete outputs. 31 band eq to be inserted across all outputs, Klark Teknik, BSS, Ashley, Urei NO Yamaha Q2031/1031

8 Wedges on 8 sends + listener

Wedges should be low profile, high quality and all be the same (bi-amped preferred) e.g. Meyer UM1, Clair 12AM. The monitor system must be quiet and free of noise due to the nature of the show.

1 Clearcom master station with out stations for FOH, MONS, Lighting and side of stage.

Personnel

Bang On A Can All-Stars will supply a sound engineer who will operate the FOH console for the show and must be allowed full access to all components of the sound system (cross-over’s, processors, eq’s etc.) to adjust as required. In installations with fixed eq, another equaliser must be provided for our engineer.

In addition we require 1 electrician familiar with the venue, 1 monitor engineer, 1 system technician and 2 stagehands for load in and load out of bands equipment.

General

The P.A. system should be set up and tested before the groups’ arrival; all mic lines and monitors should be laid out and proven.  Microphones marked with (#) may be substituted with similar high quality condenser (Schoeps, Neuman, B&K) AKG (except C414) Audio Technica, etc are not acceptable. Microphones marked (##) can only be substituted with similar quality switchable pattern condenser.  We can supply our own mic’s (see input list) but this may involve a charge to cover excess baggage and/or insurance.

When sampler/click track is required, we will supply the sampler and midi cables for connections as well as a headphone amp and headphones for the click track. Additional mic cables will be needed to connect the headphones (normal 3 pin XLR type connectors). The click track will be generated from the CD player positioned FOH. You need to supply all cabling and mic stands, which should be in good working order and have booms; black stands are preferred (for amounts see input list).

AC power drops should be provided on stage as per stage plan delivering 110V 50 Hz as well as suitable power for local backline.

Lighting

A basic lighting plot consisting of three to four colour washes and adequate front and back lighting to read music is essential. If you think your venue will have difficulty in providing this please consult with our tour manager well in advance of the concert date, (contact numbers can be found on the last page of the sound rider). The group requires an experienced lighting operator who is used to theatrical lighting as opposed to classical concert lighting. It is essential that there are no automated lights which require cooling fans in the rig as NO background noise from fans and scrollers will be permissible.  Lighting Schedule: focusing should be scheduled to take place after the stage has been set and BEFORE the band arrives (usually the early afternoon since the band usually arrives around 2-3pm for souncheck).  It is essential that the operator is available for the soundcheck so the group can check light levels for reading music. Our tour manager will discuss the lighting of the show with the operator during our set-up period.

Schedule

Equipment Load-in/Setup: Presenter agrees to have all sound equipment, including the sound system and accessories (sound board, stage monitors, microphones, speakers, cables, etc.) and all instruments and amplifiers present and fully operational no later than 12 noon on the day of the concert.  PLEASE NOTE: if the sound system is rented, a representative of the sound company must be present until soundcheck is complete to insure that the system is up and running property.

Rehearsal/Soundcheck Schedule: Presenter agrees to provide Artist with 5 hours of rehearsal time in the concert hall on the day of the concert.  These 5 hours shall be scheduled to end no later than 2 hours prior to the beginning of the concert.

In the case the Artist arrives on the day before a concert, Presenter agrees to provide a 3 hour rehearsal on the day of arrival.  Artist prefers that the rehearsal take place in the concert hall.  If the rehearsal must be held in another location, Presenter agrees to provide the necessary percussion equipment, amps and keyboards in that location. All performance running personnel must be present.

Bang on a Can Backline/Percussion List

Keyboards

9 ft. Concert Grand Piano

Kurzweill PC88 or K2500 Keyboard with volume, sustain pedal and stand

Amps

Fender Blues Deville (guitar)

G&K 800RB with Hartke 4x10 cabinet (bass)

Percussion

4.3 Octave Marimba

Vibraphone

5-piece drum kit (kick, snare, 2 mounted toms, floor tom, hi-hat, ride, crash)

In addition to drum kit:

1 Kick drum with pedal (hole in front skin)

Snare drum with normal height stand

1 Glockenspiel on stand

2 Concert Bass Drums (2 different sizes) on stands

1 Tam-tam (20” or larger)

1 tambourine with stand

1 pairs of bongos on stand

2 cowbells

2 Automobile brake drums large medium and small

Misc

15 solid top music stands

1 folding wire music stand

1 tall adjustable stool

2 Drum thrones (one for drumset, one for keyboardist)

2 bass stools

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