Bang on a Can has suspended its LONG PLAY festival indefinitely. The suspension comes as the COVID-19 crisis deepens in the US.
However, instead of the festival Bang on a Can will launch an online archive of performances. Named Canland, it will go live on the same day the festival was due to start: 1 May.
Said a statement on Bang on a Can’s website: “Our vision for Canland is that it’s not just a museum-like catalog, but a meeting place for the extraordinary world we have built together over these many years, a place to connect and reconnect with the music, the composers, the performers, the experiences we’ve shared, and most important, with one another during this very unusual time of separation.”
Organisers say that hundreds of artists have agreed to have their work shared via Canland. Highlights include a performance by John Cage from 1989 where he came onstage and read one of his mesotic poems.