A celebration of the mystic minimalist's 90th birthday, featuring performances of his iconic pieces "In C" (called "musical democracy at its highest level" by the Library of Congress) and "A Rainbow in Curved Air," the latter in a new transcription by Terry's son and frequent performance partner Gyan Riley. Bang on a Can All-Stars and a host of special guests to be announced!
Terry Riley
Widely considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century, Terry Riley is one of the founders of music’s Minimalist movement. His early works, notably In C (1964), pioneered a form in music based on structured interlocking repetitive patterns. The influence of Riley’s hypnotic, multi-layered, polymetric, brightly orchestrated Eastern-flavored improvisations and compositions is heard across the span of contemporary and popular music. Performers who have commissioned and/or played his works include: Kronos Quartet, Rova Saxophone Quartet, ARTE Quartet, Array Music, Zeitgeist, Steven Scott Bowed Piano Ensemble, John Zorn, Sarah Cahill, California E.A.R. Unit, guitarist David Tanenbaum, electric violinist Tracy Silverman, drummer George Marsh, bassist Bill Douglass, the Assad brothers, cello octet Conjunto Ibérico, Crash Ensemble, Abel Steinberg-Winant Trio, pianists Werner Bartschi and Gloria Cheng, Calder Quartet, Arditti Quartet, Amati Quartet, Alter Ego, Sounds Bazaar, Paul Dresher, singer Amelia Cuni, Bang-on-a-Can All Stars, and guitarist Gyan Riley. His influence on popular music expand to artists such as Pete Townsend who named The Who song Baba O’Reily after him and his teacher.
A California native, Terry Riley has close ties to Berkeley and the Bay Area. Born in Colfax, California, Riley studied at Shasta College, San Francisco State University, and the San Francisco Conservatory before earning an MA in composition at the University of California, Berkeley. At UC Berkeley, he met La Monte Young; together they worked with the dancer Anna Halprin. Riley was also heavily involved in the San Francisco Tape Center alongside other luminaries such as Pauline Oliveros and Morton Subotnick. In 1965 he moved to New York and joined La Monte Young’s Theater of Eternal Music. An influential teacher was Pandit Pran Nath, a master of Indian classical voice who set in motion the deep influence of Indian music on his compositions. Riley appeared in concert with Pandit Pran Nath as tampura, tabla and vocal accompanist for over 25 years. Riley continues to perform in concerts of his music and of Indian classical music, as well as conducting raga-singing seminars. He also appears in concerts with Indian sitarist Krishna Bhatt, saxophonist George Brooks, guitarist Gyan Riley and with virtuoso Italian bassist, Stefano Scodanibbio.
Riley joined the Mills College faculty in Oakland in 1971. There he met David Harrington of the Kronos Quartet. Their long association led to 13 string quartets. The Kronos recording of his epic five-quartet cycle, Salome Dances for Peace was selected as album of the year by USA Today and was nominated for a Grammy.
Bang on a Can All-Stars
Bang on a Can All-Stars are recognized worldwide for their ultra-dynamic live performances and recordings of today’s most innovative music. Freely crossing the boundaries between classical, jazz, rock, world and experimental music, this six-member amplified ensemble has consistently forged a distinct category-defying identity, taking music into uncharted territories. Performing each year throughout the U.S. and internationally, the All-Stars have shattered the definition of what concert music is today.
Together, the All-Stars have worked in unprecedented close collaboration with some of the most important and inspiring musicians of our time, including Steve Reich, Ornette Coleman, Meredith Monk, George Lewis, Louis Andriessen, Terry Riley and dozens more. Current and recent project highlights include their own new arrangements of Ryuichi Sakamoto’s landmark album 1996; Julia Wolfe’s Flower Power for Bang on a Can All-Stars and orchestra, premiered with the L.A. Philharmonic; David Lang’s before and after nature, a meditation on the natural world before and after human existence, performed by the All-Stars and choir with visual design by Tal Rosner, premiered with the LA Master Chorale; a new live arrangement of Terry Riley’s iconic and inspirational A Rainbow in Curved Air, celebrating the legendary composer’s 90th birthday year (2025); Can Dance, a brand new multimedia concert of collaborations between composers, filmmakers and choreographers; performances of the band's much beloved arrangement of Brian Eno's classic Music for Airports; Road Trip, an immersive and visually stunning concert collaboratively-composed by Bang's founders Michael Gordon, David Lang, and Julia Wolfe; In C, a new dance collaboration with Sasha Waltz & Guests based on Terry Riley’s minimalist classic; plus the touring performances and recordings of Wolfe’s Pulitzer-Prize winning Anthracite Fields and groundbreaking Steel Hammer. With a massive repertoire of works written specifically for the group’s distinctive instrumentation and style of performance, the All-Stars have become a genre in their own right.
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