Bang on a Can is a dynamic and multi-faceted contemporary classical music organization that grew out of what was a once day music marathon concert in 1987 at a Soho Gallery. It was founded by three American composers – Julia Wolfe, David Lang, and Michael Gordon – who still act as the artistic directors of the organization.
Bang on a Can is building a world in which powerful new musical ideas flow freely across all genres and borders. 31 years later Bang continues to shake up the world of music with its adventurous programs, performances, development of new audiences, and educating the musicians of the future.
“We started Bang on a Can as a way toward realizing the world we wanted to live in. It would be a kind of utopia for music: all the boundaries between composers would come down, all the boundaries between genres would come down, all the boundaries between musicians and audience would come down. Then we started trying to build it. Building a utopia is a political act – it pushes people to change. It is also an act of resistance to the things that keep us apart, and it is an act of love, bringing ideas and sounds and people together. This year we are returning to downtown NYC, home first of Charles Ives and Edgard Varese and Elliott Carter and then Steve Reich and Meredith Monk and Thelonious Monk and Philip Glass and Henry Threadgill and La Monte Young and Ornette Coleman and Laurie Anderson – where American experimental music was born. It happened right here. And it’s still happening here. Please join us, in a 10-hour marathon concert of radical creativity.” – Bang on a Can co-founders Michael Gordon, David Lang, and Julia Wolfe