Bang on a Can All-Stars, Trinity Choir and the New York Philharmonic

New York Philharmonic Biennial. If you went back in time to the late ’80s and predicted that the upstart Bang on a Can group would be collaborating with the Philharmonic, you'd have earned yourself a nice lecture about the unbridgeable divide between downtown and midtown musical trends. Thankfully, the walls have come down (at least a little bit), which means that Julia Wolfe and Steven Mackey can write and premiere huge-scale pieces that use the city's local orchestra, as well as newer-school ensembles. Wolfe's Anthracite Fields draws its inspiration from Pennsylvania coal mining (so expect some gritty, pounding sounds from the Philharmonic and the All-Stars). Guitarist-composer Mackey will join the Philharmonic—plus the Catch Electric Guitar quartet and the Trinity Choir—for his new work Dreamhouse.