Bang on a Can Announces 25/26 Season

All-Stars concerts, performances around with world with Michael Gordon, David Lang, Julia Wolfe, looking forward to Long Play - and more! 

The All-Stars and Gyan Riley celebrating Terry Riley at The Ford LA, earlier this month!

“Bang on a Can has grown over the decades into one of the contemporary music world’s primary centers of gravity — though gravity might not be the right word. Evident and animate throughout the group’s own musical output, as well as its commissioning initiatives, residency programs, and not one but two annual festivals is an abiding belief in the creation of music as “a utopian act.”

- The Washington Post, Michael Andor Brodeur, Aug 5, 2024

After a summer of nearly 100 concerts bookended by Long Play in Brooklyn, and LOUD Weekend at MASS MoCA, Bang on a Can announces a power-packed 25/26 season, with festivals, concerts, and touring productions across the globe including:

• The electrifying Bang on a Can All-Stars’ continued celebration of Terry Riley's 90th Birthday with Gyan Riley and special guests in Los Angeles, Berkeley, Amsterdam, and more

• David Lang's before and after nature featuring the All-Stars + Choir premiere performances at the Ruhr Triennale in Germany with Chorwerk Ruhr (THIS WEEK through Sept 20) and in the US with the incredible LA Master Chorale at Disney Hall in LA (Nov 16) and the Krannert Center in Champaign-Urbana (Nov 18), and more throughout the season

• The long-awaited NY premiere of Richard Foreman/Michael Gordon's What to wear at BAM (Jan 15-17), re-staged by Annie-B Parson and Paul Lazar, with Bang on a Can All-Stars and Alan Pierson

• Worldwide Bang on a Can productions of all four of Julia Wolfe's inspiring staged “docutorios” – unEarth at the Barbican in London (Jan 23); Fire in my mouth with the Brussels National Orchestra at Bozar, Brussels (Feb 27); Her Story with The University of Southern Mississippi Symphony Orchestra (Mar 26); and Anthracite Fields with the All-Stars and Flemish Radio Choir in Holland and Belgium (May 8-10)

• Bang on a Can All-Stars performances of their electrifying new arrangement of Ryuichi Sakamoto’s landmark album, 1996 in LA, Washington DC, San Diego, Amsterdam, Brussels, and more

• The world premiere of David Lang’s the wealth of nations at the New York Philharmonic, with Gustavo Dudamel (March 19-22) 

• Bang on a Can’s supercharged annual festivals: LONG PLAY (May 1-3) with 50+ plus concerts throughout Brooklyn, and LOUD Weekend at MASS MoCA in the Berkshires (July 30-Aug 1)

• AND. MUCH. MORE. 

Taken together, it’s an inspiring journey through the music of NOW, offered with Bang on a Can’s characteristic joy and celebration of community and collaboration. 

Photo: Stephanie Berger

Bang on a Can 2025-2026

Sunday, September 7, 2025 7:30pm - past
Terry Riley 90th Birthday Tribute
Bang on a Can All-Stars and Gyan Riley, Shelley Burgon, Sarah Davachi, Tim Feeney, Jeff Gauthier, Sidney Hopson, Rajib Karmakar, Salar Nader, William Roper, M.A. Tiesenga
Ford Theater, LA

Wednesday-Saturday, September 17-20, 2025, 8:30pm
David Lang: before and after nature 
Bang on a Can All-Stars, Tal Rosner, Chorwerk Ruhr
Ruhrtriennale, Germany

Friday, October 3, 2025, 7:30pm
Michael Gordon, Julia Wolfe, and David Lang: Lost Objects
Ear Taxi Festival
Reva & David Logan Center for the Arts, Chicago

Thursday, November 13, 2025 at 7:30pm 
Ryuichi Sakamoto: 1996
Bang on a Can All-Stars
Artpower, UC San Diego

Sunday, November 16 and 18, 2025 at 7:30pm
David Lang: before & after nature
Bang on a Can All-Stars, Tal Rosner, LA Master Chorale
Nov 16: Walt Disney Concert Hall
Nov 18: Cowell Playhouse, Krannert Center

Friday, December 12, 2025 at 8:15pm
Michael Gordon, David Lang, and Julia Wolfe: Shelter
deDoelen, Rotterdam, Netherlands

Sunday, December 14, 2025 4-6pm 
Ryuichi Sakamoto: 1996
Bang on a Can All-Stars
The Philipps Collection, Washington, DC

Thursday, December 18, 2025, 8:15pm
Michael Gordon, David Lang, and Julia Wolfe: Shelter
Muziekgebouw, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Thursday-Saturday, Jan 15-17, 2026 at 7:30pm 
Michael Gordon/Richard Foreman: What to wear
BAM, Brooklyn, NY

Friday, January 23, 2026 at 7:30pm
Julia Wolfe: unEarth 
BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Singers, Finchley Children's Music Group, and Else Torp
The Barbican, London

Friday, January 30, 2026 at 7:30pm
Bang on a Can All-Stars 
Florida State University

Friday, February 27, 2026, 8pm
Julia Wolfe: Fire in my mouth 
Belgian National Orchestra, Children’s and Youth Choirs of La Monnaie, Vlaams Radiokoor
Bozar, Brussels

Sunday, March 1, 2026 at 2pm
David Lang: before and after nature
Bang on a Can All Stars and Bucknell Choir, Caleb Hopkins
Weis Center Concert Hall, Bucknell, PA

Thursday-Sunday, March 19-22, 2026, 7:30pm 
David Lang: the wealth of nations (world premiere)
Gustavo Dudamel, New York Philharmonic
Wu Tsai Theater, David Geffen Hall in NYC

Thursday, March 26, 2026, 7:30pm
Julia Wolfe: Her Story 
University of Southern Mississippi

Saturday, March 28, 2026, 7:30pm
Ryuichi Sakamoto 1996
Bang on a Can All-Stars
Macky Auditorium, UC Boulder

Friday, April 17, 2026
Terry Riley 90th Birthday Tribute
Bang on a Can All-Stars, Gyan Riley, Special Guests
Muziekgebouw, Amsterdam

Friday - Sunday, May 1-3, 2026
Long Play 
Brooklyn, NY

Wednesday, May 6, 2026, 8pm
Ryuichi Sakamoto: 1996
Bang on a Can All-Stars
Bozar, Brussels

Thursday, May 7, 2026, 8:15pm 
Ryuichi Sakamoto: 1996
Bang on a Can All-Stars
Muziekgebouw, Amsterdam

Friday, May 8, 2026, 8:00pm
Julia Wolfe: Anthracite Fields 
Bang on a Can All-Stars and the Flemish Radio Choir (Vlaams Radiokoor)
Bozar, Brussels

Saturday, May 9, 2026 at 8pm
Julia Wolfe: Anthracite Fields 
Bang on a Can All-Stars and the Flemish Radio Choir (Vlaams Radiokoor)
deSingel, Antwerp

Sunday, May 10, 2026 at 4pm 
Julia Wolfe: Anthracite Fields 
Bang on a Can All-Stars and the Flemish Radio Choir (Vlaams Radiokoor)
Amare, De Haag

Saturday, May 16, 2026, 7:30pm 
Ryuichi Sakamoto: 1996
Bang on a Can All-Stars
The Wallis, Los Angeles, CA

Sunday, May 17, 2026, 8:00pm
Terry Riley 90th Birthday Tribute
Bang on a Can All-Stars, Special Guests
The Freight, Berkeley, CA

Thursday - Saturday, July 30 - August 1, 2026
LOUD Weekend
MASS MoCA, North Adams, MA

(All dates subject to change) 

Long Play Festival

Hailed by The New York Times as “ the most important classical music festival in New York City,” Long Play features 50+ concerts over 3 days in 10+ venues throughout downtown Brooklyn. Celebrating its fifth year in 2026, Long Play has become a sought-after performance opportunity for 200+ performers - and a treasured destination for thousands of music fans from throughout New York City and the world. Scheduled for May 1-3, 2026, further details regarding featured performers and passes will be announced in December! 

LOUD Weekend at MASS MoCA

Bang on a Can’s multi-day music festival LOUD Weekend at MASS MoCA is a fully loaded, three-day, eclectic super-mix of creative, experimental and unusual music that takes place each summer in the bucolic Berkshire mountains of western Massachusetts.
The culmination of the landmark Bang on a Can Summer Festival, LOUD Weekend presents luminaries of the music world alongside brilliant young musicians, in three days of ear-bending music presented amongst the mind-blowing art exhibitions throughout of MASS MoCA's vast galleries and its stunning collection of indoor and outdoor performing arts venues. Scheduled for July 30-August 1, 2026, details will be announced in March 2026.

Bang on a Can All-Stars play Ryuichi Sakamoto: 1996

Photo: Doug Mason

Ryuichi Sakamoto “was arguably the best-known and most successful Japanese musician in the world.” (Peter Tasker, Nikkei Asia)  Sakamoto’s film scores are renowned for their diversity and sensitivity, it is rare for a band to play this music live, and now the Bang on a Can All-Stars realize their own new live arrangements of the album 1996 (arranged by the All-Stars’ multi-talented clarinetist-composer Ken Thomson) — which includes an incredible selection of many of Sakamoto’s greatest hits – music from films including The Last Emperor, Wuthering Heights, The Sheltering Sky, Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, and more. The Bang on a Can All-Stars play Ryuichi Sakamoto: 1996 is an exploration, a tribute, a celebration.

David Lang's before and after nature 

Photo: Helsinki Festival

David Lang's before and after nature, written for the electrifying Bang on a Can All-Stars and choir, looks at different ways to define and understand nature - now that it has been forever changed by human behavior.  With spectacular and arresting video and lighting by Tal Rosner, before and after nature is a meditation on the natural world, from the moment we became aware of it to the moment we are gone. “before and after nature is a substantial artistic feat, one of deep emotional impact, dealing with some of our core existential questions and inviting the audience to carry on the process long after its final sounds and images have become cherished memories.” -Adventures in Music

Michael Gordon and Richard Foreman's What to wear

Photo courtesy of Cal Arts Center for New Performance

Now, in its New York debut as part of Next Wave 2025 and Prototype Festival, Michael Gordon's What to wear is remounted for the first time in 20 years, returned to its original Richard Foreman staging by Big Dance Theater co-founders Annie-B Parson and Paul Lazar. Audiences have a unique opportunity to see an original Richard Foreman production brought carefully back to life. In Foreman and Gordon’s pageant of seductiveness gone wrong, beauty gives way to something more transcendent—and our contemporary world of fast fashion and influencer culture renders their acerbic critiques still cutting and relevant as ever. A collaboration between BAM, Beth Morrison Projects, Prototype, and Bang on a Can, this historic re-staging honors Foreman's trailblazing legacy, and confirms Gordon’s ceaseless musical vitality.

Julia Wolfe's Fire in my mouth 

Photo: Chris Lee

Fire in my mouth continues Julia Wolfe’s musical investigations into American labor history with a libretto that explores the world of the women who worked in New York City’s garment industry in the early 20th century and a focus on the tragic 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire and its aftermath. On March 25, 1911, fire consumed the factory and 146 workers perished, most of them were young immigrant women. A visually stunning large-scale work for orchestra and women’s chorus directed by Anne Kauffman with scenic, lighting, and video design by Jeff Sugg, Fire in my mouth follows the story of these women who rose up to demand a more human existence, who persevered and endured challenging conditions, women who led the fight for reform in the workplace. Commissioned by the New York Philharmonic, this piece is dedicated to their memory.

Julia Wolfe’s unEarth

Photo: Chris Lee

Written for full orchestra, men’s chorus, and children’s chorus, Julia Wolfe's unEarth is a large-scale work that addresses the climate crisis. Written in three movements, the work is realized with spatial staging and scenic design projected on a large circular screen. It combines ancient stories, languages from around the world, the poetry of Emily Dickinson, climate science and words of protest to create a moving, and urgent plea to engage the listener in the climate emergency. Wolfe writes: “While art can not solve the crisis, my hope is that this poetic plea engages the listener in this urgent conversation."

Bang on a Can All-Stars celebrate Terry Riley’s 90th Birthday

Terry Riley is a trailblazer of minimalism, influencing generations of composers and musicians. The Bang on a Can All-Stars celebrate Terry Riley's 90th birthday with two genre-defining works: A Rainbow in Curved Air (arr. Gyan Riley) blending the essence of Terry Riley’s visionary sound with fresh interpretations, and Riley’s masterpiece In C, brought to life by an all-star cast of musicians - an evening of mesmerizing rhythms and timeless melodies. "Riley...conjures music that is bright, playful, celebratory, and communal" - The Wire

Julia Wolfe's Anthracite Fields

Photo: Richard Termine

In her work Anthracite Fields – a Pulitzer Prize-winning oratorio for chorus and the Bang on a Can All-Stars – composer Julia Wolfe draws on oral histories, interviews, speeches, geographic descriptions, children’s rhymes, and coal advertisements to create a work that gives an intimate look at a particular slice of American life. Wolfe says, “My aim with Anthracite Fields is to honor the people who persevered and endured in the Pennsylvania Anthracite coal region during a time when the industry fueled the nation, and to reveal a bit about who we are as American workers.” "This is a major, profound work.” – Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times.

David Lang’s the wealth of nations (world premiere)

Photo: Maarit Kytöharju / Helsinki Festival

Inspired by economist Adam Smith’s 1776 magnum opus, David Lang dramatizes this foundational work about economics as inspired by Handel’s treatment of Biblical texts in Messiah. "I want this work to be enjoyable and thought-provoking," says Lang, "encouraging audiences to consider what we truly value." The world premiere of the wealth of nations is March 19-22, 2026, performed by the NY Philharmonic and Music Director Designate, Gustavo Dudamel! 

Julia Wolfe’s Her Story

Photo: Kurt Heinecke

Julia Wolfe’s Her Story is a 40-minute oratorio for 10 women’s voices — with stage direction by Anne Kauffman and scenic design by Jeff Sugg. Her Story invokes the words of historical figures and the spirit of pivotal moments to pay tribute to the centuries of ongoing struggle for equal rights and representation for women in America. The piece incorporates text that reflects the history of women’s fight for equality, ranging from a letter written by Abigail Adams to words attributed to Sojourner Truth, from public attacks directed at women protesting for the right to vote, to political satire. Her Story is part of a series of compositions by Wolfe that highlight monumental and turbulent moments in American history and culture, and the people—both real and imagined, celebrated and forgotten—that defined them.

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