Low Ticket Alert / Schedule Forthcoming / Conversations & Panels

LOW TICKET ALERT

Ticket allotments for Big Ears 2020 are dwindling. It appears that our Saturday single day passes will likely be gone very, very soon.

SCHEDULE HOUR-BY-HOUR, VENUE-BY-VENUE

Also, many of you have been inquiring about the detailed schedule – what is happening where and at what time. We anticipate releasing that schedule this coming Tuesday.

PANELS & CONVERSATIONS

At Big Ears, we not only love great music — we also love to talk about it! Discourse about music, art, culture, and society has become integral to the Big Ears experience, offering opportunities to learn more from artists and writers about the process, inspiration and motivation behind the work — and how it fits into our culture and times. This year, we’ve engaged a number of writers and artists — including the team at NPR Music — for a series of lively, stimulating discussions throughout the weekend.

Here’s what we have planned thus far:

NPR MUSIC AT BIG EARS: FESTIVAL PREVIEW
NPR Music critics — Ann Powers, Nate Chinen, and Tom Huizenga — will help you plan out your Big Ears agenda and point you to the good stuff.

NPR MUSIC AT BIG EARS: JOE HENRY & JASON MORAN
NPR Music’s Ann Powers gathers mutual admirers, the exceptional songwriter Joe Henry and the groundbreaking jazz pianist Jason Moran.

NPR MUSIC AT BIG EARS: MEREDITH MONK & CAROLINE SHAW
NPR Music’s Tom Huizenga talks with the pioneering composer and performer Meredith Monk and the dynamic next-generation composer and performer Caroline Shaw.

NPR MUSIC AT BIG EARS: IN CONVERSATION WITH MYRA MELFORD
NPR’s Music Nate Chinen in conversation with the esteemed jazz composer, pianist, and bandleader Myra Melford.

IN CONVERSATION WITH THE NECKS
National Book Award-winning writer Geoff Dyer in conversation with the Australian jazz band The Necks, whom Dyer dubbed “the greatest trio on earth” in a lengthy New York Times Magazine profile.

IN CONVERSATION WITH JIM WHITE 
Esteemed former New York Times music critic Ben Ratliff in conversation with Jim White, the exceptional drummer for Xylouris White and the Dirty Three.

GREATEST BANDS IN NEW MUSIC: KRONOS, BANG ON A CAN ALL-STARS & MEREDITH MONK VOCAL ENSEMBLE
John Schaefer, host of WNYC’s New Sounds Live, chats with David Harrington of Kronos Quartet, Mark Stewart and Robert Black of Bang on a Can All-Stars, and Katie Geissinger of the Meredith Monk Vocal Ensemble.

LONG FORM MUSIC FOR THE SHORT ATTENTION SPAN ERA:
SARAH DAVACHI & JACOB KIERKEGAARD
John Schaefer, host of WNYC’s New Sounds Live, chats with Sarah Davachi and Jacob Kierkegaard about composing and performing long form music for audiences in an era of short attention spans.

SOUNDS FOR HAITI: NATHALIE JAOCHIM, MOONLIGHT BENJAMIN & MINWI SONNEN
Prof. Laurent Dubois, one of the leading Haiti scholars in the US, in conversation with Nathalie Joachim, Moonlight Benjamin, and Minwi Sonnen on the rich and varied legacy of music from the island nation.

THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED: AROOJ AFTAB, NATHALIE JOACHIM & MYRA MELFORD
Vanessa Reed, president and CEO of New Music USA, talks with composer / performers Arooj Aftab, Nathalie Joachim, and Myra Melford about musical genre-hopping and building new music from traditional sources.

AN ARCHIVAL SONG SWAP: LANCE LEDBETTER (DUST-TO-DIGITAL) & NATHAN SALSBURG (ALAN LOMAX ARCHIVES)
Lance Ledbetter, founder and co-director of the Dust-to-Digital label and Nathan Salsburg, curator of the Alan Lomax Archive, host a listening session and discussion investigating selected artists, repertoires, and site-specific musical communities.

ON FILM & PLACE: LILY KEBER, ERIC DAWSON & ELAINE MCMILLION SHELDON
Paul Harrill, co-founder of Public Cinema, talks with NOLA-based filmmaker Lily Keber (Bayou Maharajah); Eric Dawson, archivist at the Tennessee Archive of Moving Image and Sound in Knoxville; and the Academy Award-nominated filmmaker, Elaine McMillion Sheldon (Heroin(e)), from Charleston, West Virginia

WORK-IN-PROGRESS SCREENING: LILY KEBER’S TIERRA SAGARADA: SACRED RITUAL IN CUBA
A work-in-progress screening of a new film about Palo and Santeria ritual in Cuba, followed by a conversation by the filmmaker, Lily Keber with Ned Sublette, Cuban music specialist and author of several books, including Cuba and Its Music: From the First Drums to the Mambo

For a full list of concerts, films, panels, conversations, readings, and more, go to: www.BigEarsFestival.org