BIG EARS

TEN YEARS
OF BIG EARS

Listen. Listen


2023 Festival Lineup

THURS MAR 30 // FRI MAR 31 // SAT APR 1 // SUN APR 2

AROOJ AFTAB, VIJAY IYER & SHAHZAD ISMAILY

LOVE IN EXILE

MARC RIBOT

LOS CUBANOS POSTIZOS & THE JAZZ-BINS

SAM GENDEL

CONCERT GROUP & DUO WITH SAM WILKES

MAEVE GILCHRIST

THE HARPWEAVER
WITH AIZURI QUARTET

WILLIAM PARKER

MAYAN SPACE STATION & IN ORDER TO SURVIVE

AURORA NEALAND’S

MONOCLE ENSEMBLE

DAVID BYRNE

REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL: A CONVERSATION WITH DAVID BYRNE AND GUESTS

BÉLA FLECK

MY BLUEGRASS HEART

WITH MICHAEL CLEVELAND, SIERRA HULL, JUSTIN MOSES, MARK SCHATZ & BRYAN SUTTON

SHARA NOVA & KNOXVILLE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: THE BLUE HOUR

A SONG CYCLE BY RACHEL GRIMES, ANGÉLICA NEGRÓN, SHARA NOVA, CAROLINE SHAW & SARAH KIRKLAND SNIDER

ROBERT ASHLEY’S PERFECT LIVES

PERFORMED BY VARISPEED COLLECTIVE

TRIO IMAGINATION

ANDREW CYRILLE, REGGIE WORKMAN, AND DAVID VIRELLES

BILL FRISELL

TRIO WITH KNOXVILLE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
& BILL FRISELL FOUR

MARY HALVORSON

AMARYLLIS & BELLADONNA

MAKAYA MCCRAVEN

IN THESE TIMES

TESSA LARK & KNOXVILLE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: CYCLE OF LIFE

COMPOSED BY MICHAEL SCHACHTER

32 SOUNDS

AN IMMERSIVE FILM BY SAM GREEN WITH LIVE MUSIC BY JD SAMSON

BAGATELLES PT. 1

NOVA QUARTET & ASMODEUS

BAGATELLES PT. 2

MARY HALVORSON & TRIGGER

BAGATELLES PT. 3

BRIAN MARSELLA TRIO & JOHN MEDESKI TRIO

CHAMBER MUSIC

JACK QUARTET WITH YURA LEE, MICHAEL NICOLAS & SAE HASHIMOTO

JOHN ZORN WITH CHRISTIAN MCBRIDE AND DAVE LOMBARDO

COBRA

EISENBERG / HALVORSON / GREENE / MARSELLA / MEDESKI / NICOLAS / DUNN / HANES / HASHIMOTO / LOMBARDO / EDGCOMB / WOLLESEN

SUITE FOR PIANO

BRIAN MARSELLA / JORGE ROEDER / CHES SMITH

GNOSTIC TRIO

CAROL EMANUEL / BILL FRISELL / KENNY WOLLESEN

NOVE CANTICI

BILL FRISELL / JULIAN LAGE / GYAN RILEY

A CAPELLA VOCAL MUSIC

KIRSTEN SOLLEK / ELIZA BAGG / ELIZABETH BATES / SARAH BRAILEY / RACHEL CALLOWAY

Big Ears Festival

About Big ears

Big Ears collaborates with artists, audiences, and communities to create joyful, meaningful, and transcendent cultural experiences that defy boundaries, fuel curiosity, ignite the spirit, and nourish the soul.

About Us

What they’re Saying

Our Press

Contained within a walkable radius of historic downtown Knoxville…[Big Ears] creates its own atmospheric climate, along with a center of gravity.

Instead of sales metrics or star power, Big Ears contemplates the perceptual properties of music

At the silo-destroying Big Ears Festival, music liberated from the confines of category and overt commercialism.

The Big Ears Festival, which unfolds each spring in Knoxville, Tennessee, might be the most open-minded music gathering in the country.

There’s no other festival quite like Big Ears.

One of the most quietly earth-shattering, subtly luminous festivals the world over.

It’s no exaggeration to describe the Big Ears Festival as one of the most unique and eclectic musical gatherings one may ever be fortunate enough to encounter.

“Sons of Kemet brought its exultant blend of carnival rhythm, club abandon and jazz improv to a midnight show … The set drew from a knockout recent album, Your Queen Is a Reptile, but with a spirit of freedom in the moment — whatever setting you think suits it best, it’s music made for a perpetual now.”

— Nate Chinen

Shop Big Ears!

Broadcast your love of music and support Big Ears at the same time! Our online store features a variety of designs from recent Festival years.

Knoxville, TN

Big Ears is deeply connected to the city of Knoxville. Each year, just as we delight in sharing new listening experiences with audiences, introducing visitors to our town is a point of immense pride. Learn all about this great city and explore resources we’ve gathered to help you plan your next trip!

Your partnership makes it possible for us to sustain, year after year, the extraordinary—and all-too-rare—range of work that sets Big Ears apart from other festivals. We can only do what we do because of you.

Partners

Big Ears shares the joy and transformative power of extraordinary music and art with tens of thousands of people annually thanks in large part to corporate, foundation, and government investment.

On NPR’s Jazz Night in America, host Christian McBride reflects on ECM Records artist performances at Big Ears 2019: “Three letters,” he says, “that have come to be synonymous with cutting-edge modern jazz.”

Big Ears is much more than just a yearly in-person experience. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and be sure to subscribe to our email list, for year-round opportunities to experience, discuss & share great music.

BIG EARS
Knoxville, TN · USA

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