Chris Lee
before and after nature at Bucknell University, March 1
David Lang’s newest work – before and after nature – is a monumental meditation on how people might imagine the world, both before and after human existence. Featuring the electric Bang on a Can All-Stars and the Bucknell University Choir, conducted by Caleb Hopkins, and with stunning video/visual design by Tal Rosner, before and after nature explores how people interact with the natural world, concentrating particularly on the things we don’t really see or understand.
March 1 at Bucknell University
Weis Center Concert Hall
Fire in my mouth in Belgium, Feb 27
In 1911 the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City caught fire. 146 clothing workers died in the blaze – most of them immigrant women and children who perished in dangerous, inhuman working conditions. Their story is told in Fire in my mouth, a large-scale oratorio for orchestra and female voices by Julia Wolfe.
Produced by Bang on a Can and performed by the Belgian National Orchestra on Feb 27, Fire in my mouth’s themes of immigration, injustice, precarity and industrial neglect resonate strongly today. Gemma New Conductor / Vlaams Radiokoor Choir / Children’s and Youth Choirs of La Monnaie
Our beloved friend and colleague Timothy James Thomas, 1966-2026
From everyone at Bang on a Can, we share the extremely sad news that our beloved longtime colleague Tim Thomas (Development Director 2004-2023) died suddenly on Saturday morning. We are all stunned. Tim was such a huge force of life. He shared so much of himself and had such incredible and seemingly endless love and enthusiasm for everything – for his family, for music, for our community, for our shared neighborhood in Brooklyn where he was an active advocate, for social justice, for the world of ideas. The list of his meaningful contributions and the number of people he touched is endless.
In our corner of his life, he was our ‘founding’ Development Director, the first person to sit in that chair full-time, and he was with us for 20 years. In addition to overseeing many galas, grants, and other projects, he provided leadership and mentoring for Found Sound Nation and was one of the essential minds behind our OneBeat project.
Tim was at the helm of Sō Percussion for the last 3 years, and we’ve continued to work together throughout. He was the principal songwriter in several very cool bands. He was an amazing dedicated father and husband. There are so many stories to share. We miss him immensely.
Tim’s life is a reminder that we are all interconnected, not only in this music and art scene, but in LIFE – a reminder of the need to support each other.
This gofundme has been set up to support Tim’s family.
Long Play 2026, April 30-May 3
Bang on a Can presents the 5th year of Long Play, a four-day destination music festival, presented from Thursday, April 30 through Sunday, May 3, 2026. 4-day Festival and Supporter Passes are on sale now.
Featuring 70+ concerts, Long Play also showcases a dense network of inventive music venues in Brooklyn – with performances at BRIC, BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music), Brooklyn Music School, Roulette, Pioneer Works, Public Records, the Church of St Luke and St Matthew, ISSUE Project Room, Polonsky Shakespeare Center for Theatre for a New Audience, and Fort Greene Park – and more!
4-Day Festival and Supporter Passes are on sale now, including Oneohtrix Point Never, Bang on a Can All-Stars playing a brand new arrangement of the iconic Philip Glass album Glassworks in its entirety, and Julia Wolfe’s Pulitzer prize-winning Anthracite Fields with Trinity Choir, Steve Reich’s classic Sextet plus Electric Counterpoint performed live by 13 electric guitarists, the legendary Billy Hart Quartet, the esteemed and extraordinary Amina Claudine Myers, and the US premiere of Kali Malone’s Does Spring Hide Its Joy ft. Lucy Railton & Stephen O’Malley.
