Bang on a Can

For Immediate Release February 7, 2007

For more information and media requests, contact Allegra McBane at Bang on a Can (718) 852-7755 or allegra@bangonacan.org.

Bang on a Can Presents the 2007 "PEOPLE'S COMMISSIONING FUND” Concert With Special Guest, MEREDITH MONK

“Merkin Hall was a mob scene…At five minutes to 8, the line of ticket buyers snaked out the door…It was an evening that was packed in every sense: with people, with ideas, with music.”—New York Times

On March 1, Bang on a Can will present the annual People’s Commissioning Fund (PCF) concert at Merkin Concert Hall. This year marks the 10th Anniversary of the PCF.

New York’s electric ensemble, Bang on a Can All-Stars, will perform three world premiers by composers Stefan Weisman, Joshua Penman, and Lukas Ligeti. In the second half of the program, the All-Stars will welcome special guest Meredith Monk for performances of five of her works, including the first-ever live performance by Monk and the All-Stars of a brand new arrangement by Bang on a Can co-founder, David Lang. John Schaefer of WNYC-FM will host the evening for future radio broadcasts on his program, “New Sounds Live.”

The PCF was established in 1998 and has become one of Bang on a Can’s most rewarding and unique programs. Each year, Bang on a Can pools together the contributions of hundreds of people to commission works from new and adventurous composers. Donations range from $5 to $5,000. Over the past 10 years, hundreds of people have joined together to commission music by dozens of composers. Through the PCF, Bang on a Can has put the power to change musical culture in the hands of its audience.

Past People’s Commissions have been awarded to: Eve Belarian, Jeffrey Brooks, Sussan Deyhim, James Fei, Yoav Gal, Annie Gosfield, John Hollenbeck, Cynthia Hopkins, Carla Kihlstedt, John King, Annea Lockwood, Keeril Makan, Ingram Marshall, Miya Masaoka, Marc Mellits, Thurston Moore, Virgil Moorefield, Dan Plonsey, Edward Ruchalski, Matthew Shipp, J.G. Thirlwell, Toby Twining, and Pamela Z.

PEOPLE’S COMMISSIONING FUND CONCERT PROGRAM :

Stefan Weisman Restless Legs Joshua Penman Awakenings Lukas Ligeti Glamour Girl -intermission- Meredith Monk Panda Chant 1 Memory Song (arr. Julia Wolfe) Scared Song (arr. David Lang) Double Fiesta (arr. David Lang) Last Song

Stefan Weisman “Mr. Weisman’s [music] is personal, moody and skillfully wrought.” —The New York Times

Stefan Weisman writes chamber, orchestral and choral pieces, as well as music for theater, film, and dance. One of his most recent works “Darkling” was commissioned by the American Opera Projects, included in the Guggenheim Museum’s “Works & Process” series, and premiered at the Classic Stage Company Theater in March 2006. Among his other commissions are works for Sequitor, the Minimum Security Composers Collective, the Gay Gotham Choir with the Cosmopolitan Symphony Orchestra, the Battell Chapel Choir, and the Oregon Back Festival Composers’ Symposium. Groups who have performed his work include: the Miro String Quartet, So Percussion, the Da Capo Chamber Players, the Locrian Chamber Players, the New Millenium Ensemble, the Yesaroun’ Duo, Lisa Moore, Patti Monson, the Woodstock Chamber Orchestra, and the Hudson Valley Phil.

Joshua Penman “[Penman’s] music packs a considerable punch.”—Alex Ross, The New Yorker

Joshua Penman has received commissions from Lionheart, the Ann Arbor Symphony, the New York Youth Symphony, the Foundation for Universal Sacred Music, and the Prism Saxophone Quartet. Penman contributed to the recently released Lua Productions CD/DVD “Caravan of Light: Initiation/Incantation.” His music has been performed by the Cedar Rapids Symphony, the Erie Philharmonic, the American Composers Orchestra, the Holland Symphony, the University of Michigan Symphony, the Nouvel Ensemble Moderne, the Pianoduo Post en Mulder, the String Orchestra of New York City, Gamelan Galak-tika, Arraymusic, and All Rivers at Once, the former Ann Arbor concert series that he co-ran. Penman is the recipient of numerous awards including most recently from ASCAP and BMI, and has been a fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center.

Lukas Ligeti “…a distinctive and energetic voice…[Ligeti] walks skillfully between the comprehensible and the unpredictable.”—San Francisco Chronicle

Lukas Ligeti writes for dance, film, and installation in addition to commissions from the Vienna Festwochen, Ensemble Modern, Kronos Quartet, American Composers Forum, New York University, ORF Austrian Broadcast Company, Radio France, and others. He also performs as a percussionist and has collaborated with artists such as Henry Kaiser, Raoul Bjorkenheim, Michael Manring, Gianni Gebbia, Daniel Carter, Benoit Belbecq, John Tchicai, Pyrolator Kurt Dahlke, Elliott Sharp, Jim O’Rourke, Robert Dick, Fred Frith, Christ Cutler, Rupert Huber, and Ned Rothenberg. Since 2003, Ligeti has curated the weekly experimental music series, “Freezone NY” with guitarist Ty Cumbie.

Meredith Monk “In originality, in scope, in depth, there are few to rival her.”—Washington Post

Meredith Monk is a composer, singer, director, choreographer, and creator of opera, music theater, films, and installation. During a career that spans more than 40 years, Monk has become a major creative force in the performing arts. She has received numerous awards throughout her career including the MacArthur “Genius” Award, two Guggenheim fellowships, a Brandeis Creative Arts Award, three “Obies”, two Villager Awards, two “Bessie” awards, the 1986 National Music Theatre Award, the 1992 Dance Magazine Award, and a 2005 ASCAP Concert Music Award. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and holds honorary Doctor of Arts degrees from Bard College, the University of the Arts, The Juilliard School, the San Francisco Art Institute, and the Boston Conservatory. Two of her recordings were honored with the German Critics Prize for Best Records and her music has been heard in many films including La Nouvelle Vague by Jean-Luc Godard and The Big Lebowski by Joel and Ethan Coen.

Bang on a Can All-Stars “Improvisation, electronica, rock and roll, cerebral modernism, klezmer and a whole range of ethnic traditions—the Bang on a Can [All-Stars] aesthetic throws all these elements together and grinds them into a hyperactive minimalism.”—Newsday

The Bang on a Can All-Stars have gained an international reputation for extreme virtuosity and an utterly unique sound, powered by their unusual combination of clarinet, electric guitar, cello, bass keyboards, and percussion. Freely crossing the boundaries between classical, jazz, rock, world and experimental music, the 6-member ensemble is constantly exploring new and innovative ways to present music.

More about Bang on a Can: Composers Michael Gordon, David Lang, and Julia Wolfe started Bang on a Can in 1987 in New York City as a way to present concerts of music they loved; the enterprise has since grown into one of the most vital, enduring, and beloved forces in America’s new music scene. Dedicated to presenting the work of composers across a wide spectrum, Bang on a Can has carved a home for musical inventors, misfits, and pioneers. The organization is now comprised of its resident ensemble the Bang on a Can All-Stars, who tour to major festivals and concert venues around the world; The People’s Commissioning Fund, a commissioning program that creates unprecedented opportunities for emerging composers; the annual mammoth Bang on a Can Marathon concert in New York; touring productions such as the staged oratorio Lost Objects and the OBIE winning opera The Carbon Copy Building based on the work of comic book artist Ben Katchor; Cantaloupe Music, the record label formed by Bang on a Can in 2001 (domestic distribution by harmonia mundi USA); the Bang on a Can Summer Music Festival at MASS MoCA; and more…

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