Ecstasy through repetition: that’s the recipe of Minimalism. It repeats simple melodic patterns over and over, altering them only slightly — and became one of America’s most important contributions to 20th-century music history. Michael Gordon, one of the co-founders of the legendary New York collective Bang on a Can alongside Julia Wolfe and David Lang, follows in the footsteps of Minimalist pioneers like Steve Reich and Philip Glass. But his music is also unmistakably infused with rock. Trance opens with a striking electric bass riff; saxophones, synthesizers, and electric guitar create a raw, intensely powerful ensemble sound. In this 1995 work, Gordon lets short motifs collide and builds, from complex, constantly shifting rhythms, a fiercely pulsating 50-minute rush: edgy, rhythmically vibrant music that drives toward an ecstatic climax, enriched with samples of Buddhist and Gregorian chants.

Ensemble Helix/Hochschule Luzern — Musik Studio for Contemporary Music | Gregory Charette

Hochschule Luzern

Among the world’s most distinctive and respected vocal ensembles, Paul Hillier’s Theatre of Voices—praised for “fearlessness, verve, and beauty” (The Times, London)— makes a rare US visit with the West Coast premieres of two substantial recent works by luminaries of American contemporary music.

Theatre of Voices

Cal Performances

What happens when the myth of the American West fractures? When the hero splits into many selves, and the story refuses to behave? In Michael Gordon’s A Western, inspired directly by the film High Noon, Verdigris Ensemble presents the West as a kaleidoscopic dream: familiar figures multiplied, reflected, and distorted through sound and movement. Gary Cooper’s lone sheriff doesn’t appear once, he appears four times, sixteen times, splintered across the stage as the choir becomes shards of a mirror, transforming individuals into crowds and crowds back into a single voice. Raw, loud, and cinematic, A Western confronts the mythology of cowboys, guns, and justice head-on: asking what happens when the stories we rely on start to crack.

The evening opens with the world premiere of To The West, where singers become architecture: forming environments, landscapes, and ecosystems of the West through light, projection, and physical presence. Directed by Kevin Moriarty, conceived and conducted by Sam Brukhman, with visuals by Courtney Ware, this production pushes singers far beyond traditional vocal roles. Here, 16 voices become characters, terrain, and tension itself. To The West lulls audiences into a hypnotic cinematic world before A Western blasts it open. Three nights only, this is not a concert you casually attend: it’s a visceral reimagining of what music can be, and a defining statement in the new music movement Verdigris Ensemble is building.

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A Western

Winspear Opera House

New Music Ensemble

The University of Texas at Austin

Embodying “undivided devotion to the musical material,” the Grammy Award–winning vocal ensemble Theatre of Voices is a go-to collaborator for many of today’s most visionary composers. In Zankel Hall alone, they have premiered new works by such artists as Arvo Pärt, David Lang, and Ingram Marshall. In this performance—in the intimate, in-the-round Zankel Hall Center Stage configuration—they sing a world premiere by the category-defying Julia Wolfe, a US premiere by John Luther Adams that takes listeners on a journey through the geological layers of the Grand Canyon, and a recent work by Michael Gordon that combines playfully direct lyrics with sumptuously scored singing.

Carnegie Hall

Celebrating the natural wonders of earth and the perseverance of miners in Pennsylvania coal country, this program reflects both the beauty and tragedy of humanity’s relationship with our planet. Natural History is a collaboration between composer Michael Gordon and the Steiger Butte Singers. Written and commissioned to mark the centennial of the National Park System, the piece poses the question: If Crater Lake National Park were a symphony, what would it sound like? The result is a surround-sound celebration of nature and the park’s spiritual connection to the surrounding community. In contrast, Julia Wolfe’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Anthracite Fields is a haunting and powerful oratorio that captures not only the sadness of lives lost in the anthracite coal fields at the turn of the 20th century, but a way of daily life now also lost. The Bang on a Can All-Stars lend their ferocity to this profound work alongside the May Festival Chorus.

Voices of the Earth

Cincinnati Music Hall

Celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Bay Area’s own Kronos Quartet—the groundbreaking ensemble that helped reinvent the string quartet for our global, connected, contemporary world through cross-cultural and cross-genre collaborations, ambitious commissioning projects, and enduring partnerships with living composers. The concert features two world premieres commissioned for the quartet’s anniversary from Michael Gordon and Peni Candra Rini. In his newest collaboration with Kronos, Gordon takes inspiration from Haydn’s scherzos to create a suite of lighthearted miniatures. Indonesian composer Candra Rini was among the artists selected to participate in Kronos’ visionary Fifty for the Future initiative, which commissioned 50 international composers to create scores made available as a resource at no cost for the next generation of string quartet players. Her new work includes shadow puppets, original artwork, and field recordings inspired by musical environments and cultures across the Indonesian archipelago. “No one is ever going to say that Kronos Quartet is satisfied with the string quartet status quo” (The New York Times).

Kronos Quartet

University of California, Berkeley

SLSO string players summon intense color and bold abstraction. Quartets take us on kaleidoscopic journeys through Sky Macklay’s angular reimagination of the familiar cadence and Molly Joyce’s reflection on perfection. Michael Gordon and Leilehua Lanzilotti revel in the emotive beauty of solo instruments. A lone marimba breaks up the string party in Andy Akiho’s virtuosic and percussive banger.

Live at the Pulitzer: Line and Light

Pulitzer Arts Foundation

Inspired by Crater Lake National Park, Michael Gordon’s Natural History weaves Native and symphonic music in this paean to the natural landscape. Plus, hear works by two of classical music’s most intrepid pioneers: Stravinsky’s experimental musical essay on wind and brass sounds, Symphonies of Wind Instruments, and Beethoven’s vivacious and dramatic Symphony No. 1. Native Oregonian Grace Miedziak enhances the program with a new work that celebrates the Pacific Northwest.

Stravinsky & Beethoven

Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall

The fearless Bang on a Can All-Stars celebrate minimalist icons Steve Reich and Philip Glass in 90/90, a two-part program honoring the groundbreaking work of two of the most influential composers of our time. Known for combining the energy of a rock band with chamber-music precision, the All-Stars will be joined by members of Orange County Youth Symphony and members of Chapman University's College of Performing Arts for an electrifying exploration of two composers who reshaped contemporary music and who both turn 90 during the 2026-27 season.

Michael Gordon

Events

Upcoming events

Oct 31 - Nov 1, 2026

Stravinsky & Beethoven · Oregon Symphony

Jan 15, 2027

Bang on a Can All-Stars · Orange County Youth Symphony

Past events

Sep 13, 2026

Ensemble Helix/Hochschule Luzern — Musik Studio for Contemporary Music | Gregory Charette · Lucerne Festival

Apr 26, 2026

Theatre of Voices · Cal Performances

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