BIG EARS’ BIG IMPACT AND MORE
Big Ears By the Numbers
Two months have passed since over 30,000 of you, some 7,600 each day, came together for our unforgettable 2024 festival weekend. Recently, Austin-based AngelouEconomics released the results of their festival survey. It’s exciting to share the numbers when they are this good, and certainly the evolution and growth of Big Ears Festival, especially over the past three years, has been extraordinary, thanks to your amazing enthusiasm and support. But the numbers shouldn’t overshadow other impacts. The “why?” of the festival—and its impact on the cultural life of all of the communities that come together to create it, sparking the imagination, nurturing a sense of curiosity and discovery, suggesting a sense of possibility and potential individually and collectively—that’s the real story, and it’s from those experiences that these numbers emerge.
Thanks to reporter Silas Sloan, The Knoxville News Sentinel, and others for helping to share the story. And especially to our inspiring community of donors, supporters, attendees, artists, partners and teams who are the vital contributors that make Big Ears a reality. We’re already deep into the planning for March 27–30, 2025.
Read: Knoxville News Sentinel on Big Ears
Big Wins for Big Ears
Laurie Anderson
Laurie Anderson has been awarded the Stephen Hawking Medal for Communication by the Starmus Festival. Known for her experimental performances and multimedia projects, Anderson has successfully bridged the gap between art and technology, engaging audiences with complex scientific concepts through her unique and captivating style.
Read: “Stephen Hawking Medal 2024 winners announced”
Jon Batiste
Jon Batiste was among the winners of the 2024 ASCAP Composers’ Choice Awards earlier this month. Batiste won “Documentary score of the year” for his deeply intimate work for the film American Symphony, in which Batiste attempts to compose a symphony as his wife, writer Suleika Jaouad, undergoes cancer treatment.
Read: “Jon Batiste & More Honored at 2024 ASCAP Screen Music Awards”
Colin Stetson Announces New Solo LP
Colin Stetson has just announced a new solo LP, The Love It Took To Leave You, and the title track is out now as the lead single. He describes the new song as a “love letter to self and to solitude and to tall old trees that sway and creak in the wind and rain.” It’s Stetson’s first non-soundtrack recording since 2017.
