Allison Lazur photo
“The idea of Bang on a Can is to go somewhere you haven’t been before,” said Julia Wolfe of Bang on a Can. “When there were record stores, and music was sectioned off, we used to fall into the cracks of those sections. There were blurred lines and we were in that blur.”
Bang on a Can has made its career by thriving in that blur. Since its first marathon concert in 1987, it has championed new music by living composers, recorded and performed new work, and creates ensembles with unusual combinations of instruments and found objects. In addition, it hosts a summer music festival, deploys a street band, and is part of OneBeat, a program under the aegis of the State Department that sends U.S. musicians abroad and brings foreign musicians to the United States for tours and cultural exchange.
Wolfe, one of the founders of Bang on a Can, and Robert Black, an original member of the group, spoke at a talk entitled “Orchestra of Original Instruments” recently at Neighborhood Music School, as part of the “ideas” programming in the International Festival of Arts & Ideas. Bang on a Can was in town for the run of Steel Hammer that took place at the Long Wharf Theatre. But in another sense, it was a homecoming, as the Yale School of Music is the unofficial birthplace of the contemporary classical music ensemble.
During the hour-long discussion, audience members — a room of ambitious musicians, music enthusiasts, and others — learned about the backstory of the group, members’ personal experiences, and what has made Bang On A Can so successful.
Wolfe discussed how several factors came into play for Bang On A Can to move from idea to reality. “We were all sitting in a coffee shop complaining about our lives and we thought maybe we should do something about it. So we called a bunch of spaces in New York City and said ‘Hi, do you want music in your space all night?’” Eventually a space went for it, and a night of 12 hours of music was programmed with an audience of about 500 people. This all-night performance — the first of Bang on a Can’s marathon concert — and the innovative mindset that enabled it is what laid the foundation for the group’s future work.
Over the years, the group worked with Ornette Coleman, Philip Glass, and Steve Reich. It also collaborated with people who are not as familiar to Western audiences. Black described his experience working with Kyaw Kyaw Naing, a Burmese circle drummer.
“He knew exactly what he wanted, but he didn’t come in with scores and parts for us,” Black said. “I believe he worked it out on a keyboard and then had someone transcribe it.”
In addition, Bang on a Can worked with Iva Bittová, a violinist and folk singer from Czech Republic. Black played the first track on the album Elida — the resulting collaboration between Bittová and the Bang on a Can All-Stars. From the first few seconds, it was apparent why Bittová’s hauntingly weird yet beautiful voice, garnished with the sounds of Bang on a Can, was so extraordinary.
“What’s interesting to the Bang on a Can enterprise is not looking for people in a specific category,” Black stated, “but looking for who is doing something interesting that we want to work with.”
Wolfe and Black made clear that Bang on a Can will continue to push boundaries and break rules in the name of innovative experiences and unexpected music culture, based on the impulse that led to the group’s formation in the first place. “There’s a body energy to this ensemble,” Wolfe said, “that we wanted to let loose and happen naturally.”
Click here for the schedule of programming remaining in the “ideas” segment of the International Festival of Arts & Ideas.
