Bang on a Can

Mike Svoboda was born on the island of Guam and grew up in Chicago. He has collaborated with Frank Zappa in a project with Ensemble Modern on Zappas Yellow Shark and he can be heard on Zappa’s EHN CD. Svoboda has a series of recordings for the WERGO label and has also appeared as a soloist or ensemble member on over 30 other CDs of various styles - from jazz to trombone concertos by Lachenmann and Xenakis. Svoboda has premiered over 300 works for trombone including: Wolfgang Rihm‘s Canzona per sonare, Dies Irae for trombone and orchestra by Christian Jost, Voyage III by Toshio Howokawa, Lullaby by Martin Smolka, the 60-minute dramatic work by Peter Eötvös As I crossed the bridge of dreams, and Helmut Lachenmann‘s NUN. Svoboda has collaborated with other composers including Sandeep Baghwati, Sidney Corbett, Manuel Hidalgo, Mattias Spahlinger, and Bernd Thewes. His own composition, the 35 minute modern Carmen-Variations called “Love Hurts” is based on themes of Georges Bizet and was premiered in February 2003 by the Württembergische Philharmonie Reutlingen. He also played the German premiere of the trombone concertos by Michael Nyman and Iannis Xenakis.