Cultural Events
Improving the World through Music: American Musical Group Bang on a Can Visits Uzbekistan (10/30/2007)
The contemporary American music group Bang on a Can kept audiences on the edges of their seats during their visit to Uzbekistan in October. The highlight of their visit was a performance at the U.S. Embassy on October 30 that was attended by Uzbek cultural figures, members of the diplomatic community, and alumni of U.S. government exchange programs.
This was not the first time Bang on a Can has thrilled audiences in Uzbekistan, as the U.S. Embassy had sponsored them on a tour in 2001. This time, Bang on a Can’s visit was arranged by the American arts organization CEC ArtsLink. They played several performances in Tashkent and Bukhara and held workshops at the Ilkhom Theater.
Formed in 1987 by composers Michael Gordon, David Lang and Julia Wolfe, Bang on a Can is dedicated to commissioning, performing, creating, presenting and recording contemporary music. With an ear for the new, the unknown and the unconventional, Bang on a Can strives to expose new audiences worldwide to exciting and innovative music. The San Francisco Chronicle has called Bang on a Can "the country's most important vehicle for contemporary music."
Over the years, Bang on a Can has grown from a one-day festival to a multi-faceted organization. Projects include festival concerts and the annual Bang on a Can Marathon; The People's Commissioning Fund, a membership program to commission emerging composers; the Bang on a Can All-Stars, who tour to major festivals and concert venues around the world every year; recording projects; the Bang on a Can Summer Music Festival & Institute - a professional development program for young composers and performers; and cross-disciplinary collaborations and projects with DJs, visual artists, choreographers, filmmakers and more.
During Bang on a Can’s performance at the Embassy, they played an eclectic mix of music by a variety of modern composers. Band members Robert Black (bass), David Cossin (drums and percussion), Mark Stewart (guitars), and Evan Ziporyn (clarinets) played music by Ornette Coleman, Don Byron, Philip Glass, and Steve Reich. With their relaxed and innovative performance style, the band began playing most of their songs off of written musical scores, but almost inevitably transitioned to improvising by the end of each song, which kept audience members on the edge of their seats, as they didn’t know what genre or instruments to expect next. This casual style of mixing musical genres and instruments is symbolic of the many people, voices, and ideas that coexist harmoniously within America itself.
Bang on a Can often performs overseas, and previously has played concerts in countries such as Russia, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. Through these overseas performances and the band’s annual festivals in the U.S., they work to inspire a new generation of musicians and also to break down the walls between different kinds of music that keep people apart. Their motto is that “If you help fresh musical voices to be heard then the world will be a better place.”