Alternavox Recommends: INTERsection 2012

By News Division in Boomvox · August 24, 2012 · No comments

Tags: Brian Eno, free concerts, INTERsection 2012, Yonge Dundas Square

For their tenth anniversary, Contact Contemporary Music is thrilled to be presenting the artists they consider their most important influence, Bang on a Can All-Stars. Sunday, September 2 will be a treat for new music aficionados and newcomers alike with the inimitable double-bill multimedia concert, Ambient2 – The Music of Brian Eno at The Music Gallery. Previously scheduled at the Panasonic Theatre, The Music Gallery – Toronto’s Centre for Creative Music – provides an intimate and acoustically sound space for Bang on a Can All-Stars to perform their groundbreaking arrangement of Brian Eno’s classic ambient record, Music for Airports, with film by Frank Scheffer and Contact performing their arrangement of Eno’s Discreet Music, with film by New York artist Suzanne Bocanegra.

Formed in 1992, Bang on a Can is 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 and shattering the definition of what concert music is today.

INTERsection 2012, the 6th annual showcase of adventurous new music and multimedia, kicks off with a free all-day New Music Marathon at Yonge-Dundas Square on Saturday, September 1. This feat of musical endurance features performances on the main stage by Contact, Toronto’s leading contemporary music ensemble, and New York City’s world-renowned troupe, Bang on a Can All-Stars.

Called “A marathon of sound in the middle of traffic” by Robert Everett Green of The Globe and Mail, the all-day New Music Marathon on Saturday, September 1 at Yonge-Dundas square is a literal cacophony of sound performed by Bang on a Can All-Stars, Contact, Jim Harley and Cam McKittrick, Edges, Dora Award winner Rick Sacks and Roman Pilates. TORQ percussion quartet will perform on a special second stage as part of Musicircus! in the Marketplace, a musical celebration in honour of the centenary of American composer John Cage’s birth.

Acclaimed by the New York Times for “methodical and mesmerizing” performances, Contact has firmly established itself as one of Canada’s leading interpreters of the music of our time. Contact has performed at some of the world’s most prestigious venues and new music festivals, including the Museum of Modern Art (New York), the Royal Ontario Museum (Toronto), the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival (UK), Open Ears Festival of Sound (Kitchener), and the Bang On A Can Marathon (New York).

Praised by the Globe and Mail for its “thought-provoking” and “highly entertaining” programming, Contact Contemporary Music is a concert producing organization that highlights collaborations with other media, established and emerging composers, performances in alternative spaces, and outreach to underserved communities that stress diversity, collaboration and accessibility.