People’s Commissioning Fund Concert
January 20, 2022
7:30 PM ET
Live Stream Will Appear On This Page
Presented by Kaufman Music Center as part of the
Ecstatic Music series in Merkin Hall
Hosted by WNYC’s John Schaefer and New Sounds Live
We’re presenting an unprecedented, expanded All-Stars featuring three outstanding additional players in Allison Loggins-Hull on flute, Jen Baker on trombone and David Byrd-Marrow on horn. We’re premiering new commissions from Tomeka Reid, Ken Thomson, Fred Frith, Nick Dunston, Soo Yeon Lyuh, Aeryn Santillan, Jeffrey Brooks and Trevor Weston. If you prefer to attend the concert in-person, just go to Merkin Hall’s page.
PROGRAM
Fred Frith: Which It Is *
Tomeka Reid: UNTETHERED*
Jeffrey Brooks: Santuario II **
Nick Dunston: Fainting is Down, Whooshing is Up **
Ken Thomson: Performative *
Soo Yeon Lyuh: See You on the Other Side**
Aeryn Santillan: disconnect.**
Trevor Weston: Rainbows and Butterflies **
*world premiere
**world premiere arrangement
BANG ON A CAN ALL-STARS
Jen Baker – trombone
Robert Black – double bass and electric bass
David Byrd-Marrow – horn
David Cossin – percussion
David Friend – piano and keyboard
Arlen Hlusko – cello
Allison Loggins-Hull – flute and piccolo
Mark Stewart – 6-string and double-neck electric guitar
Ken Thomson – clarinet and bass clarinet
with
Soo Yeon Lyuh – haegum (Korean two-string bowed instrument)
Garth MacAleavey – sound engineer
Commissioning credits
- Santuario II, by Jeffrey Brooks was commissioned by the People’s Commissioning Fund, with original support for the Pandemic Solo Santuario from Jane and Richard Stewart.
- Fainting is Down, Whooshing is Up, by Nick Dunston, was commissioned by Bang on a Can with the generous support of Charles Reade.
- Which It Is, by Fred Frith, was commissioned by Bang on a Can with the generous support of The Robert D. Bielecki Foundation.
- See You on the Other Side, by Soo Yeon Lyuh, was commissioned by The Antonia and Vladimer Kulaev Cultural Heritage Fund, Inc. with original commission support for the “Pandemic Solo” version of See You on the Other Side from Lisa Bauso & Joe Rojas
- UNTETHERED, by Tomeka Reid, was commissioned by Bang on a Can with the generous support of The Antonia and Vladimer Kulaev Cultural Heritage Fund.
- disconnect., by Aeryn Santillan, was commissioned by Bang on a Can with the generous support of Richard Ferrante.
- Performative, by Ken Thomson, was commissioned by Bang on a Can with the generous support of Robert & Pamela Howell.
- Rainbows and Butterflies, by Trevor Weston, was commissioned by the People’s Commissioning Fund, with original support for the “Pandemic Solo” version of Rainbows and Butterflies from Arlene & Larry Dunn.
Concert program booklet as PDF
People
Jen Baker (trombone) Jen Baker, trombonist/composer has pioneered a widely diverse career based in redefining the role of trombone in contemporary music and traditional performance settings. Featured on the soundtrack to Werner Herzog’s Oscar-nominated Encounters at the End of the World, many of her collaborations and/or compositions appear on record labels including New World, Innova, New Focus, New Amsterdam, Cantaloupe, and her own label, Dilapidated Barns. Hailed for “formidable sensitivity” (New York Times), she has “performed with brilliant mastery and virtuosity” (San Francisco Classical Voice) at festivals worldwide, as Guest Artist/Faculty at many trombone festivals, Ostrava Days (Czech Republic), Edgefest, and many others. Other performance highlights include a world tour of Beowulf (a thousand years of baggage) and the final performances with Merce Cunningham Dance Company at Park Ave Armory. Jen was featured soloist on Chicago’s Experimental Sound Studio in their Quarantine Concert Series. Her Silo Songs (recently presented by Edgefest! and the International Trombone Festival), blends site-specific field recording inside a Michigan grain silo with live performance soloist. Her earlier solo album, Blue Dreams, is similarly based on the vibration of multiphonics. She authored Hooked on Multiphonics: Multiphonics and other Extended Techniques Demystified, the first and only book that comprehensively deals with this technique. 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). photo by Stephanie Berger Jeffrey Brooks (composer) Jeffrey Brooks is an American composer living in Minneapolis. He began composing at an early age, eventually going on to study at Tanglewood and Yale University, where he earned masters and doctorate degrees. His primary teachers include Louis Andriessen, Gilbert Amy and Martin Bresnick. Brooks has a considerable body of work composed for mixed chamber ensembles. He has written for the Bang on a Can All Stars, Alarm Will Sound, The Michael Gordon Philharmonic, Zeitgeist, the Rose Ensemble, the Bakkan Trio, California Ear Unit, Present Music, Relache, Pianoduo, Icebreaker Ensemble, and 5th Species. In 2014, Brooks composed After the Treewatcher, the first of three works for amplified chamber orchestra that were premiered during three residencies at the Bang on a Can Summer Festival at MASS MoCA. The three works together comprise The Passion, a CD produced by Damian LeGassick and released by Cantaloupe Music and Innova Recordings in May 2019. David Byrd-Marrow (horn) Atlanta native David Byrd-Marrow is the solo hornist of the International Contemporary Ensemble, as well as The Knights. Working with a uniquely wide range of performers, he has premiered works by Matthias Pintscher, Arthur Kampela, George Lewis, Tyshawn Sorey, Anna Thorvaldsdottir, Du Yun, Marcos Balter, Wang Lu, Kate Soper, Miguel Zenón, and Chick Corea. He has performed at festivals including the Ojai Music Festival, the Spoleto Music Festival, the Mostly Mozart Festival, the Tanglewood Music Center, Summerfest at the La Jolla Music Society and as faculty at the Festival Napa Valley. Formerly a member of Carnegie Hall’s Ensemble Connect, he has also made appearances with the New York Philharmonic, Decoda, the Atlanta and Tokyo symphony orchestras, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, the Washington National Opera and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. He has recorded on many labels including Tundra, More Is More, Nonesuch, EMI, Deutsche Grammophon, and Naxos. Mr. Byrd-Marrow received his Bachelor of Music degree from The Juilliard School and Master of Music from Stony Brook University. David is the Assistant Professor of Horn at the Lamont School of Music, of The University of Denver. photo by downtownmusic.net 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 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. Nick Dunston (composer) Nick Dunston is an acoustic and electroacoustic composer, improviser, and bassist. An “indispensable player on the New York avant-garde” (New York Times), his performances have also spanned a variety of venues and festivals across North America and Europe. He’s worked with artists such as Marc Ribot, Ches Smith, Mary Halvorson, Imani Uzuri, Ingrid Laubrock, Tyshawn Sorey, Anna Webber, Amirtha Kidambi, and Vijay Iyer. In addition to three studio albums released under his name, Dunston has also been commissioned by artists such as Bang on a Can, JACK Quartet, Ex-Aequo, Johnny Gandelsman, T R O M P O, Joanna Mattrey, and Joy Guidry. In 2020 in collaboration with Dogbotic Labs, he co-created “Ear Re-training,” a music composition course on media-bending experimental techniques. He is currently Artist-in-Residence with Wet Ink Ensemble for the 2021-2022 season. photo by Una Stade David Friend (piano) The New York Times describes David Friend as “[one] of the finest, busiest pianists active in New York’s contemporary-classical scene.” With a primary focus on new and experimental music, he performs regularly in the U.S. and abroad at major venues and festivals as well as alternative DIY spaces. He is a member of an eclectic array of groups including Bent Duo, Grand Band, TRANSIT New Music, and Ensemble Signal, a frequent guest artist with ensembles including Bang on a Can All-Stars, Alarm Will Sound, American Composers Orchestra, and International Contemporary Ensemble, and regularly pursues interdisciplinary projects and collaborations such as the Julius Eastman Memorial Dinner. He has recorded for a wide variety of labels and is featured on Third Coast Percussion’s album of music by Steve Reich, which won the Grammy Award for best chamber music performance. Post-, his forthcoming album on New Amsterdam Records for solo piano and electronic processing, is a collaborative project with Jerome Begin that undertakes a radical exploration of what solo piano music can be and do in our increasingly technologized society. Fred Frith (composer) Fred Frith is a songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist (bass, keyboards, violin) and improviser performing mostly on various permutations of the electric and acoustic guitar. Occasionally he uses crude home-made instruments, either of his own invention or in collaboration with his long-time colleague Sudhu Tewari in the band Normal. Fred learned how to compose in rock bands, starting with Henry Cow in 1968. This meant writing for and with people that he knew, and then arriving at the final result through a collective rehearsal process. During the Henry Cow years he fell in love with the recording studio and its endless possibilities. Fred embraces the idea of the “work” as an unfinished and constantly mutating entity. Collaboration, improvisation, sculpting sound in the studio, and treating composition as an open-ended process remain central to how he makes music. photo by Heike Liss 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. Allison Loggins-Hull (flute) Flutist and composer Allison Loggins-Hull, maintains an active career performing and creating music of multiple genres. Praised for being able “to redefine the instrument…” (The Wall Street Journal), Allison has garnered a reputation for successfully navigating an array of musical worlds and appealing to varied audiences. She is co-founder of the critically acclaimed ensemble, Flutronix, known for “redefining the flute and modernizing its sound by hauling it squarely into the world of popular music.” (MTV Iggy) She has performed with the International Contemporary Ensemble, Lizzo, Imani Winds, and been featured in the 62nd Annual GRAMMY Awards Ceremony. She can also be heard as co-principal flute on the soundtrack to Disney’s 2019 remake of The Lion King. As a composer, Allison has been commissioned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Library of Congress, Carolina Performing Arts, Alarm Will Sound and several other artists and institutions. Soo Yeon Lyuh (composer and haegum) Soo Yeon Lyuh is a composer, improviser, and haegeum (Korean two-string bowed instrument) player hailing from Princeton University by way of South Korea. Her work draws inspiration from traditional Korean music to compose a meld of improvisatory and experimental sounds, as shown in her pieces Tattoo (2021), Moment 2020 (2020), and Yessori (2017), which were commissioned and premiered by the Kronos Quartet. Rigorously trained in the Korean traditional court and folk repertories from a young age, Lyuh is known for her masterful performances of new compositions for the haegeum. To represent the authentic Korean musicality, she has given workshops and concerts for all age and ethnic groups across different universities, community centers, and festivals. Lyuh seeks to combine different musical DNAs with respect to diversity and inclusion. Tomeka Reid (composer) Described as a “New Jazz Power Source” by the New York Times, cellist and composer Tomeka Reid has emerged as one of the most original, versatile, and curious musicians in Chicago’s bustling jazz and improvised music community over the last decade. She is a Foundation of the Arts (2019) and 3Arts Awardee (2016), and received her doctorate in music from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in 2017. In 2015, Reid released her debut recording with the Tomeka Reid Quartet, a vibrant showcase for the cellist’s improvisational acumen as well as her dynamic arrangements and compositional ability. The quartet’s second album, Old New, released in Oct 2019 on Cuneiform Records, has been described as “fresh and transformative–its songs striking out in bold, lyrical directions with plenty of Reid’s singularly elegant yet energetic and sharp-edged bow work.” Reid has been a key member of ensembles led by legendary reedists like Anthony Braxton and Roscoe Mitchell, as well as a younger generation of visionaries including flutist Nicole Mitchell, vocalist Dee Alexander, and drummer Mike Reed. She co-leads the adventurous string trio HEAR IN NOW, with violinist Mazz Swift and bassist Silvia Bolognesi, and in 2013 launched the first Chicago Jazz String Summit, a semi-annual three-day international festival of cutting edge string players. Reid teaches at Mills College as the Darius Milhaud chair in composition. Aeryn Jade Santillan (composer) Aeryn Jade Santillan (she/her) is a composer, guitarist, and bassist whose work is heavily influenced by the DIY punk scene and actively aims to blur the lines between band/ensemble and song/composition. Aeryn performs bass and vocals in Massa Nera, an experimental screamo quartet who’s toured in the USA, Canada, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Japan. Along with composer/guitarist Andrew Noseworthy, she co-founded this place is actually the worst, an experimental mathcore duo, and post-genre DIY label, people | places | records. She’s been commissioned by 45th Parallel Universe, Bang on a Can, Del Sol String Quartet, Gabriela Lena Frank’s Creative Academy of Music, ~Nois, and more. Aeryn holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Columbia College Chicago and a Master of Music in Theory and Composition degree from New York University. Previous mentors include Gabriela Lena Frank, Michael Gordon, Julia Wolfe, Marcos Balter, David Reminick, Drew Baker, and Ilya Levinson. When she’s not writing music or touring with her bands, she works as an Adjunct Professor at NYU and Sales and Marketing Assistant at Cantaloupe Music/Bang on a Can. She enjoys skateboarding, D&D, video games, and vegan junk food. She lives in Jersey City with her partner and two cats. 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. photo by Naomi White Trevor Weston (composer) Trevor Weston’s music has been called a “gently syncopated marriage of intellect and feeling.” (Detroit Free Press) Weston’s honors include; the George Ladd Prix de Paris from the University of California, Berkeley, a Goddard Lieberson Fellowship and the Arts and Letters Award in Music from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He is a fellow from the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts and the MacDowell Colony. Weston co-authored with Olly Wilson, “Duke Ellington as a Cultural Icon” in the Cambridge Companion to Duke Ellington, published by Cambridge University Press. Carnegie Hall co-commissioned Weston’s Flying Fish, with the American Composers Orchestra, for its 125 Commissions Project. The Bang on a Can All-Stars premiered Weston’s Dig It, for the Ecstatic Music Festival in NYC in 2019. The Grammy-nominated Choir of Trinity Church Wall Street, under the direction of Julian Wachner, recorded a CD of Trevor Weston’s choral works. Weston’s work Juba for Strings won the 2019 Sonori/New Orleans Chamber Orchestra Composition Competition. Dr. Weston is currently Professor of Music and Chair of the Music Department at Drew University in Madison, NJ.
Jen Baker
Jen Baker
Robert Black
Robert Black
Jeffrey Brooks
Jeffrey Brooks
David Byrd-Marrow
David Byrd-Marrow
David Cossin
David Cossin
Nick Dunston
Nick Dunston
David Friend
David Friend
Fred Frith
Fred Frith
Arlen Hlusko
Arlen Hlusko
Allison Loggins-Hull
Allison Loggins-Hull
Soo Yeon Lyuh
Soo Yeon Lyuh
Tomeka Reid
Tomeka Reid
Aeryn Jade Santillan
Aeryn Jade Santillan
Mark Stewart
Mark Stewart
Ken Thomson
Ken Thomson
Trevor Weston
Trevor Weston
PROGRAM NOTES
Fred Frith: Which It Is
Which It Is was composed during a residency in the village of Guarda in Unterengadines, Switzerland in the summer of 2021. It kind of wrote itself, maybe because of my absolute confidence that the All-Stars can play this kind of stuff with aplomb. I’ve made quite a few pieces for choreographers over the years, and spent a lot of time back in 1978 exploring dance music while preparing the record Gravity. The chance to revisit the territory in this rather particular guise was both intriguing and exciting.
Tomeka Reid: UNTETHERED
Untethered is a musical response to the moment that I believe we have all been witnessing. On the one hand, there is this driving rhythm that we want, have been comfortable with or have felt tethered to yet we are being forced to not only reflect but to break free from this pattern and find new ways of existing. In this piece I am exploring what that means for myself, wishing to be untethered—free, even wild, and unapologetically— of many things and wishing that there wasn’t so much push back from so many sides to this new world we are all entering and experiencing.
Jeffrey Brooks: Santuario II
I think there is a general misunderstanding of the term “orchestration.” It is the idea that orchestration is a separate activity from composing and roughly analogous to coloring within the lines in a coloring book.
You may overhear at a concert things like “I love Mahler’s orchestration.” which can be translated as “Mahler put the melody in the English Horn instead of the 1st violin” or “Ravel is such a wonderful orchestrator” which means “Ravel put the melody in the tenor sax instead of the 1st violin” or “I’m not sure what to make of Darius Milhaud’s orchestration” which means “I wish he would stop putting the melody in the Tenor Sax and English Horn and put it back in the 1st violin.” It’s the idea that orchestration is something that happens after the composition is finished. For me, every new piece begins with an overall sound. That sound exists only in my imagination. The Sound IS the Piece. Orchestration for me is realizing that Sound for the available resources. The “imagined sound” may include certain rhythms. pitches, procedures but the composing process remains: Imagine a sound. Realize the sound.
So what does it mean when a composer is asked to re-orchestrate one of their existing pieces? The Sound has already been imagined and realized. But the available sources have changed. This was the problem I faced in re-orchestrating my piece, Santuario, (originally for solo, double necked, electric guitar and “looper pedal”) for a nine member ensemble. I needed to reconnect with the musical essence behind the solo piece and imagine a new sound that could be realized by the nine player All-Stars. While the new work shares some musical DNA with the original, Santuario, it has a completely separate musical identity.
Nick Dunston: Fainting is Down, Whooshing is Up
Cells expand, tissues compress, organ systems move at their own intuition. Deeply inspired by Robert Black’s gorgeous multitudes of performances of “Fainting is Down, Whooshing is Up”; this augmented iteration of the piece serves as a step in the feedback loop (but maybe network of neural pathways is a more appropriate metaphor) of collaboration, agency, and the spaces between potential and kinetic energy.
Ken Thomson: Performative
Performative is about the dance we do to align our own words and actions with those of the society with which we, either by choice or inheritance, surround ourselves; and how our words and actions signify to others the culture to which we would like to belong.
Soo Yeon Lyuh: See You On the Other Side
See You On the Other Side emerges from an array of sounds I improvised after seeing footage of bodies stacked on top of each other in the world’s C-19 hotspots. The piece drew inspiration from the Korean traditional funeral procession, where people pray for the deceased. I reflect the hopes and desires of everyone who believes they can reunite with the departed, despite the sudden, unexpected farewell.
Aeryn Santillan: disconnect.
disconnect. is simply a piece about depression and the feeling of being disconnected from friends, family, the music community, and myself during the beginning of the 2020 pandemic. The recorded samples throughout the piece are from voicemails of calls that I ignored between March-April 2020 – some are misdials, one is my student loan company, and most are my grandma. This piece is a journal entry that encapsulates the emotions I felt and the music I was listening to at the time. Bands like sadness, Capsule, Infant Island, are direct influences. The piece ends on a distorted and stretched sample from my favorite city pop artist – both a reference to my bandmates 2019 SEA/Japan tour a year prior, reminiscent of better times, and also defeating as the chorus is “this is all I have for you.”
Trevor Weston: Rainbows and Butterflies
Rainbows and Butterflies is the product of a collaboration between Trevor Weston and Mark Stewart. I was moved by Mark’s experience connecting with Maya Angelou. Hearing Mark playing the piano to himself after a reception, Maya Angelou sent someone over to tell Mark that she enjoyed his playing. Inspired by that experience, we decided to use quotes from Maya Angelou’s comments, not printed texts, to create the piece. My conversations with Mark shaped and influenced the musical choices and texts to Rainbows and Butterflies.
Tickets
Suggested Ticket Levels
$10
A big virtual hug and thank you for helping make this and future virtual Marathons possible.
$25
We’d love to list you! For $25 or more, we’ll put your name on the Marathon 2020 website as Ticket Buyer. It’s that easy. Buy a ticket, be a supporter.
$100 and above
Receive the above and reserved seating! Okay, that’s silly. You can sit wherever you want. BUT $100 and above makes you a donor, not just a ticket buyer, and you can get a tax deduction and name on the Marathon website as a PRODUCER! Because you helped us produce the show, and that’s really, really important.
$1,500 – Commissions!
This is a very special category indeed. We are going to try to commission as many pieces as we can over the next few months, before we can all settle into a venue together to hear music together. So…for each $1,500 gift, we will apply the funds in equal parts to the composer, to the performer and to the Marathon 2020 fund that keeps this all going. If you want to know more about these commissions, just send an email to Tim Thomas, [email protected]. Or, when you give $1,500, we’ll contact YOU with info on your composer and when the piece will be premiered. You will also receive a signed score from the composer and our undying gratitude.
People
Abdallah Abozekry is a leading young saz player hailing from Egypt. At just 20 years old, he had already founded his own ensemble, the Abdallah Abozekry Quartet, which performs his own compositions, a blend of traditional Egyptian and folk music with a jazz flair. In this set, Abdallah will showcase the incredible sound world of the saz with original compositions and improvisations. Over the past year, Queens Village-born Akinyemi moved more times than you can count on one hand. His path took him across three boroughs in NYC to Colorado and then finally to Brooklyn, NY. The Nigerian-American independent artist rediscovered parts of himself throughout his journey, which is reflected in his debut record that is releasing this summer. Akinyemi has received praise from Vice, NPR, Complex, Ones To Watch, Lyrical Lemonade, Highsnobiety, Wonderland, Huffington Post & many more. His music has been featured on Spotify’s Fresh Finds, Alternative Hip-Hop and Spilled Ink playlists as well as Apple Music’s The New New York and Chill Rap playlists. photo by Kayli Weiss A lifelong musician, Amel Zen is an Algerian composer, lyricist and singer of ethno-pop, rock and Amazigh (Berber). Born into a Chenoui family in Tipaza, she started playing music at the age of 10 when she joined the Kaissaria de Cherchell (Association of Classical Arabic and Andalusian Music). She became well-known nationally through her participation in the search for new talents Alhane wa Chabab in 2007, and is now a leading voice of North African and Amazigh identity through her unique and modern approach to rock and progressive music. She is also dedicated to using her music to advance women’s, children’s, and human rights. Askat Zhetigen Uulu is a Bishkek-based Komuz player, poet and composer who writes for solo, vocal, and a range of orchestras and ensembles. He is one of Kyrgyzstan’s most celebrated instrumentalists and believes that music can change the world. He wishes to be a part of that change. Over the last 8 years, Bongeziwe Mabandla has steadily built a career that now sees him taking his place as the enigmatic spirit of African Soul. Mabandla’s early musical influences had come from his childhood in the rural town of Tsolo in the Eastern Cape of South Africa where he grew up singing in church, at school, and at home. A move to Johannesburg to study drama saw him continue exploring expressions of musical storytelling. Bongeziwe has released three albums, with his sophomore record, “Mangaliso,” earning critical praise and winning the 2018 South African Music Award for Best Alternative Music Album. photo by Justice Mukheli Courtney Hartman is an acclaimed guitarist, singer and writer from the foothills of Colorado. Acoustic Guitar Magazine recognizes her as a “distinctive guitar stylist… and a songwriter that delights and disturbs” while PopMatters hailed her most recent release as “a delicate light glistening softly in the darkness.” Bill Frisell, Mike Campbell, and Buffy St. Marie are a few of the artists Courtney has created with, as she continues to collaborate across cultures and disciplines, always seeking to bring voice to the hushed and inexpressible. Morocco-based singer and composer Mehdi Qamoum specializes in Afro-Moroccan gnawa music and traditional Moroccan music. He is currently researching other music styles through collaborative works with different artists from around the world. photo of Courtney Hartman by Shervin Lainez A native of Buenaventura, Eryen Ortíz Garcés has earned international recognition as a marimba de chonta performer and interpreter of numerous folk styles from Colombia’s Pacific Coast. Currently, Eryen serves as musical director and lead performer in the group Cantares del Pacífico. She is also a member of Jóvenes Unidos por Buenaventura, a social advocacy platform empowering young leaders from Buenaventura. Eryen has won numerous honors and awards, including the National Sonar Contest of Marimba and Cali’s Queen of Marimba Festival. photo by Cristian Bustos In their collaboration, Eva Salina & Peter Stan pick up the threads of an interrupted legacy of empowered female voices in Balkan Romani (gypsy) music. Seeking to amplify voices of past generations of Romani women musicians, Eva & Peter employ tenderness, grace, and friendship in keeping these songs alive and evolving, while tending to living traditions and sharing with new generations. Eva & Peter have one album together, “SUDBINA: A Portrait of Vida Pavlović.” photo by Deborah Feingold Photography Bassist and composer Greg Chudzik performs works that investigate the control the performer has over their own work. As a bassist he can be seen regularly performing with Talea Ensemble, Ensemble Signal, Wet Ink Ensemble, the Founders, and the Briars of North America, among others. As a musician during the pandemic he’s been mostly keeping to himself, and when he’s not restoring an old pickup truck for fun, he can be found writing Max / MSP patches that let the computer have a co-equal part in the act of spontaneous composition. photo by Hannah Devereux Composer and multi-instrumentalist Jiha Park plays the traditional Korean piri (a double reed bamboo flute), the yanggeum (a hammered dulcimer), as well as the saenghwang, an impressive mouth organ constructed from 24 bamboo pipes, vertically mounted in a metal windchest. Her music is characterized by elements of minimalism, ambient music and free jazz, with influences of traditional Korean music, based on different sound layers and an unconventional interplay of space and time. Jiha Park has released two albums so far: her self-produced debut album “Communion”(2018) and “Philos”(2019) on Tak:til/ Glitterbeat Records. photo by Cecil Park With an unmistakable, freewheeling style, Los Cumpleaños mix classic era Cumbia, Porro, Son Caribeño, Salsa Criolla and Bullerengue from Colombia with the energy of a downtown punk rock band washed in a sea of cutting-edge psychedelic new wave synths & wild style retro organ sounds. CIting influences as diverse as Colombian accordion legend Lisandro Meza, free jazz iconoclast Sun Ra, and genre-defying tastemakers like Flying Lotus and Tame Impala, they seamlessly combine heavy grooves and experimental sounds into an energetic, danceable, one-of-a-kind musical experience. photo by Brennan Cavanaugh Malabika Brahma is a vocalist and composer based in India. Her music is a fusion of folk, blues, and Indian classical music, influenced by Vedic Hinduism and Baul mystic minstrel tradition. Malabika tours regularly, performing at religious Ashrams and Akharas and community Melas, as well as popular music festivals. She has recorded and collaborated with many renowned musicians, some via the internet, including UK-based saxophonist Tony Roberts. Describing her musical ethos, Malabika explains, “LOVE, LIVE, LET LIVE is the true essence of my philosophy.” photo by Valters Pelns Olga Maximova, aka OMMA, is an electronic music producer, educator and leading DJ on the Moscow club circuit, whose catchy musical confections highlight an innovative and playful approach to music technology. She maintains a successful touring career which has taken her across Europe and Asia, released music through several well-known European labels, including the Berlin-based label PowerHouse, and launched and produced her own party series – PLAVAY. She is also cofounder of Playtronica, a company and artist collective that turns everyday objects into musical instruments, producing interactive installations around the world. photo by Elyse Mts Paulo Sartori is a Brazilian composer, arranger, and multi-instrumentalist. He has worked with a wide range of acclaimed Brazilian artists such as Alceu Valença, Lô Borges, and Orquestra Ouro Preto, whilst always maintaining an active participation in the independent music scene. Paulo is co-founder of Kriol, an ensemble that works at the fusion between Cape Verdean and Brazilian musical cultures, and of Todas las Puertas, project led in partnership with OneBeat 2017 fellow Johanna Amaya, aimed at multidisciplinary artistic collaboration and educational endeavours. Sartori also writes and produces original music for television, cinema, and circus. photo by João Gabriel Riveres Piotr Kurek is a Warsaw based composer and performing artist who straddles various worlds of electronic music, taking inspiration from many genres but fitting comfortably in none. Through his unconventional use of a wide array of instruments, both electronic and acoustic, he built a reputation for himself as an inventor of hypnotic worlds drenched in uncanny arrangements. Kurek has released a range of idiosyncratic, forward-thinking works on a variety of imprints including Sangoplasmo, Black Sweat Records, Hands In The Dark, Dunno Recordings, Crónica, and Foxy Digitalis, and he has participated in music festivals such as Unsound, CTM, OFF, TodaysArt and UH Fest. In 2014 and 2015 he opened for Bonnie “Prince” Billy’s two European mini-tours. photo by Marta Szewczyk Hailing from Mumbai, India, Sandunes is a composer, producer, and beatsmith whose work has a global footprint. She has released three records on !K7 records, performed at London’s Barbican Centre, debuted India’s very first Boiler Room series, and has had her work performed at India’s celebrated Magnetic Fields festival and in the U.S. She has also partnered with Red Bull TV for their global Searching For Sound series, cataloguing the rich sonic tapestry of Bombay, and guested as a speaker and lecturer at Ableton’s Loop Summit for Music Makers. In 2017, she co-founded DASTA – a beatmaker’s collective that focuses on DIY growth and empowerment through the arts in India. photo by Viktor Sloth Taiwanese percussionist Sayun Chang performs music that ranges from traditional and contemporary classical to many diverse disciplines of world music, including interdisciplinary performances. She also dedicates herself to music outreach and cultural education, especially in rural areas. This performance, featuring Sayun in collaboration with vocalist Alice Hui-Sheng Chang, will take place in an outdoor park in Tainan, the oldest city in Taiwan, and will introduce listeners to an indigenous melody used to commemorate the spirits of the dead. photo by Ching Chien Lin Sodiala is a Malagasy family band founded in 1995 by Mamiliva Randriamihajasoa and features the incredible talents of OneBeat 2018 fellow Tsanta Randriamihajasoa. The Randriamihajasoa family performs, composes and arranges traditional Malagasy music and world music. Sodiala means “Solofo Dimbin’ny Ala” which translates as heir. Domenica Fossati and Peter Matson, from the seminal afropop/ punk/dance group Underground System, will rework their massive stage show into a paired down hybrid live electronic performance, exclusively for the OneBeat Marathon. Underground System is one of the most revered genre splicing and party starting bands in NYC with a sound that is all their own. photo by Albert Font Garcia Wei Wei, aka VAVABOND, is a laptop noise/improvisation musician and member of the psychedelic noise group “VagusNerve” and free improvised duo “Mind Fiber.” VAVABOND processes meaningless and fragmented sounds in a nonlinear-time approach to create unique and other-worldly sound experiences.
Abdallah Abrozekry
Abdallah Abrozekry
Akinyemi
Akinyemi
Amel Zen
Amel Zen
Askat Zhetigen Uulu
Askat Zhetigen Uulu
Bongeziwe Mabandla
Bongeziwe Mabandla
Courtney Hartman & Mehdi Qamoum
Courtney Hartman & Mehdi Qamoum
photo of Mehdi Qamoum by Fatima Habouz
Eryen Ortíz Garcés
Eryen Ortíz Garcés
Eva Salina & Peter Stan
Eva Salina & Peter Stan
Greg Chudzik
Greg Chudzik
Jiha Park
Jiha Park
Los Cumpleaños
Los Cumpleaños
Malabika Brahma
Malabika Brahma
OMMA
OMMA
Paulo Sartori
Paulo Sartori
Piotr Kurek
Piotr Kurek
Sandunes
Sandunes
Sayun Chang
Sayun Chang
Sodiala
Sodiala
Underground System
Underground System
Wei Wei aka VAVABOND
Wei Wei aka VAVABOND
Elena Moon Park, Kyla-Rose Smith, Jeremy Thal, Chris Marianetti, Ezra Tenenbaum – hosts
Jody Elff – live stream producer and engineer
Peter Wise – live stream coordinator
Nyokabi Kariuki and Alejandro Salazar – OneBeat production assistants
Denise Burt – logo design
This performance is a continuation of Bang on a Can’s online offerings during the pandemic shutdown. In 2020-2021 our Marathons have featured more than 150 performances, including 60 world premieres of new commissions and over 175 composers and performers.
OneBeat is an initiative of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and produced by Bang on a Can’s Found Sound Nation.
Supporters
Bang on a Can is grateful for the support of these crucial 2020-21 Funders:


Commissioners of New Work at the live online Bang on a Can Online Marathons include Stephen Block, Margaret Cullum, Lawrence Greenfield, Russ Irvin, David Lake & Linda Wright, Herb Leventer, George Lewis, Raulee Marcus, Rob Mason, Gordon Nicol, Maria & Robert A. Skirnick, Jane & Richard Stewart, Connie Steensma & Rick Prins.
Support of the Marathon Performers comes from the Williamson Foundation for Music. Support of Composers/Commissions comes from the ASCAP Foundation. Both funders have been key supporters of our Summer Festival at MASS MoCA, which we look forward to in 2022!
Bang on a Can’s 2021-22 programs are made possible with generous lead support from: Amphion Foundation, ASCAP and ASCAP Foundation, Atlantic Records, Daniel Baldini, Stephen A. Block, Bishop Fund, Jeffrey Calman, Charina Endowment Fund, City of New York Department of Cultural Affairs, Aaron Copland Fund for Music, Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, Alice M. Ditson Fund of Columbia University, Exploring the Arts, Howard Gilman Foundation, Jaffe Family Foundation,, Alan Kifferstein & Joan Finkelstein, Michael Kushner, Leslie Lassiter, Herb Leventer, MAP Fund, Raulee Marcus, MASS MoCA, Henry S. McNeil, Jr., Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, Jeremy Mindich & Amy Smith, Elizabeth Murrell & Gary Haney, National Endowment for the Arts, New Music USA, New York Community Trust, New York State Council on the Arts (with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature), O’Donnell-Green Music and Dance Foundation, Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, Scopia Capital Management, Matthew Sirovich & Meredith Elson, Maria & Robert A. Skirnick, Jane & Dick Stewart, Sandra Tait and Hal Foster, Trust for Mutual Understanding, Williamson Foundation for Music, Adam Wolfensohn & Jennifer Small, and Wolfensohn Family Foundation.
Bang on a Can’s Board of Directors: Michael Kushner, president; Sandra Tait, vice-president; Alan Kifferstein, Treasurer; Robert A. Skirnick, secretary. Betto Arcos, Daniel Baldini, Jeffrey Bishop, Stephen Block, Jeffrey Calman, Michael Gordon, Lynette Jaffe, David Lang, Leslie Lassiter, George Lewis, Raulee Marcus, Elizabeth Murrell, Jane Stewart, Julia Wolfe, Adam Wolfensohn
Bang on a Can Staff:
Artistic Directors: Michael Gordon, David Lang, Julia Wolfe
Executive Director: Kenny Savelson
Development Director & OneBeat Oversight: Tim Thomas
Project Manager: Philippa Thompson
Producer: Sruly Lazaros
1Beat Co-Directors: Chris Marianetti, Jeremy Thal, Elena Moon Park
1Beat Managers: Kyla-Rose Smith and Ezra Tenenbaum
Accounts Manager: Brian Petuch
Online Store Manager: Adam Cuthbert
Archive Content Manager: Matt Evans
Assistant Store Manager: Cassie Wieland
Publicity: Jensen Artists
Wuhoo! Thank you, everyone, and welcome back!
Thanks for the live stream. And great job announcing, John, as usual!
Fantastic! Wonderful audio and video production as well. Next time: stereo? Would love that.
Congrats all on a fab concert, wish I could be in NYC with you all again soon 🙂
Thank you so. much!
Fabulous concert, compositions, performances. Thank you!
Ahh that was gorgeous!
Thank you to our beautiful commissioners! They made this rich and deep show possible. Give me a shout if you want to be a commissioner! [email protected]
Superb concert, the compositions and the playing. Thank you very much for live streaming it.
you are ALL STARS!
great show!
wonderful trippy dreamy – great! Thank you Trevor!
Rock the heck on. Gotta jump, it’s been fab!
🔥🔥🔥
yeah!! go aeryn!
awesome, Aerynl, just awesome.
soooo good <3
Epic sweet sad emotional. Thank you Aeryn!
This is gorgeous, Aeryn!
Epic!!
Congrats Soo-yeon!! So fab to hear you perform again
beautiful, Soo-yeon. Really loved your piece and the performance!
Beautiful – congrats Soo-Yeon! Great program and performances!
Yay Aeryn!!! <3
YES AERYN!! HI SIS
bravo soo-yeon!!
Wonderful
otherworldly meditation
love that superball on the bass drum!
It’s always such a good sound!
The singing filled the room in an awesome way.
Yay Soo-Yeon
bravo ken!!!
In love with this piece already Ken <3
I don’t go to parties either!
that bass solo was from the future
And I wanna go there
Yeah Robert – rockin’ that bass!!
thank you — everyone — thanks to a great job by Mark Stewart (solo)
and the All-Stars
That was a fantastic piece, Jeff!!
Woooooooooooooo 👏👏
thanks Vicky
Jeffrey Brooks rocks!
wow!!! way to go Jeff! applause applause!!
I’m digging this!
This has been the most “Recommended Records Sampler” PCF concert yet, starting with Fred Frith, who was on the original!
The triangle!!!
Dang Tomeka! That was fit!
Love you Jeff! Excited!
🎶
Can’t wait jeff!!
Loving everyone from brooklyn! Rocking !
Funky Bang!
yeah Ken! Yeah Allison!
BRAVO!! to my Mills College colleagues Fred and Tomeka and the expanded all stars!
yeah, Tomeka. Such a great tune. great break, all of it. rockin. makin’ this band sound awesome. oof. half-time killin.
Come together: two music scenes I love so much—Bang and Chicago jazz!
Seems like Tomeka knew exactly what do do with ALL the players!
Slayyyyyyy
Getting ever-more delightful!
Yay Tomeka!
Ha ha! Other things than strings!
What happened?
Hi Justin! If you ever lose the feed just refresh your browser and press play again.
Off to a great start with this Fred Frith composition! Wish I was there live, but appreciate the opportunity to be there virtually. Thank you.
I can dance to this. Anyone else?
I’m doing the Dougie, for sure.
Loving 9-piece All-Stars
Love this!
Brilliant!
Yeah Fred!!
so good to be back!!!
Joining from Boston – have to say I miss the live performances but appreciate the hybrid model, which allows me to enjoy this performance.
At this point you should be able to see the dark stage. There are still people filing in!
super psyched to watch and listen!!!
first time in 10 yrs not being at pcf irl ;____; have the best [safe] time friends!!
I hear ya – But nice to be in the virtual hang!
I’m looking forward to Brooks’ piece which originated for the double necked guitar and is now arranged for this amazing orchestra!
We are so excited to be here tonight, even if only virtually.
Hi all! I really just come for the chat, but looking forward to the music, too! 😉
Hey all!! So excited for this concert!
❤️
sending virtual applause and immense gratitude for your work!
If you have trouble seeing the Kaufman Center page after the show starts, don’t forget to press the “play” button. Also, if you’re still having trouble, try refreshing your browser. Sometimes that clears whatever’s in the cache and gives you a fresh feed. Feel free to comment here throughout…and awaaaaaay we go….
Hello everyone! Welcome, welcome, welcome! So glad you can join us live from Merkin Hall on the Upper West Side of an island called Manhattan. Wow. There’s a bunch of people here!! We’ve never been so grateful for a live audience, though we love you too!
Hey folks. Grateful to be able to listen in from Tallahassee, FL. Thanks.