MaerzMusik Specials
Bang on a Can Marathon – MaerzMusik Edition
4 hours of live concert
The legendary Bang on a Can from New York present four hours of live concert in their “Marathon” – a utopian musical format first created in 1987, which is now reaching an ever-wider audience in digital form.
View of the fly tower in the Haus der Berliner Festspiele before the renovations in 2010
© Berliner Festspiele, photo: Kordula Rüter
Past Dates
- Sunday, 21 March 2021
- 20:00–00:00
- online (NYC)
In early March 2020, in the beginning of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Bang on a Can – the multi-faceted and highly influential New York City-based contemporary music organisation – recognised that they were going to have to completely shift everything, and fast. Seeing friends and colleagues lose almost all of their work opportunities, they considered how best to support musicians and audiences through this sudden process of survival and transformation.
They turned to the place where it all began for them – the Bang on a Can Marathon. They quickly learned the tools necessary to stream performances from people’s homes and studios, and to engage with tens of thousands of viewers worldwide. In this new virtual world they have been able to curate and commission more widely than ever.
For MaerzMusik 2021, Bang on a Can presents a special edition of their Marathon Live Online – four hours of live performances from both sides of the Atlantic, reflecting the diversity and breadth of their community. Bang on a Can was founded in 1987 by three American composers who remain its artistic directors: Julia Wolfe, David Lang and Michael Gordon. Called “the country’s most important vehicle for contemporary music” by the San Francisco Chronicle, the organisation focuses on the presentation of new concert music, and has presented hundreds of musical events worldwide.
20:00
Daniel Bernard Roumain Why Did They Kill Sandra Bland performed by Arlen Hlusko
Arnold Dreyblatt
Mazz Swift
Rohan Chander △ or THE TRAGEDY OF HIKKOMORI LOVELESS from FINAL//FANTASY performed by Vicky Chow
21:00
Kristina Wolfe Listening to the Wind performed by Molly Barth
Miya Masaoka
Aeryn Santillan disconnect. performed by Ken Thomson
Adam Cuthbert
22:00
Ken Thomson Birds and Ambulances performed by Robert Black
Tomeka Reid Lamenting G.F., A.A., B.T., T.M. performed by Vicky Chow
Steve Reich Vermont Counterpoint performed by Claire Chase
Christina Wheeler
Molly Joyce Purity performed by David Cossin
23:00
Tyshawn Sorey
Jeffrey Brooks Santuario performed by Mark Stewart
Moor Mother
Bill Frisell