Live, Video: Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | Bang on a Can All-Stars

Well known for their genre-busting and boundary-defying music, Bang on the Can delivered a splendid Late Night Prom.

David Lang’s new opera the loser opened the Next Wave Festival at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on Wednesday night, but simply lacked theatricality.

Carnegie’s Zankel Hall hosts a four and a half hour celebration of the work of Meredith Monk.

Composer David Lang joined the ensemble in Oberlin for an invigorating night of fresh ideas played with a spirit of adventure.

In addition to the “Mickey Pick-Slate” chants, the score of Anthracite Fields incorporates the banging of a can, the spinning of bicycle wheels, whistling, and shouting.

Bang on a Can All-Stars are by no means small fish in a big pond. Their work within the world of minimalist and contemporary music, as well as their collaboration with some of the biggest names in 20th-century music, has made of them today a name respected by any fan of John Cage, Steve Reich, Terry Riley or Brian Eno (to name but a few of the best).

The title for this Barbican event certainly threw up some interesting questions. Having failed to attend a riotous dinner party that was characterised by one attendee as “a scream and an outrage”, Nico Muhly set about curating a series of concerts under this title. However, no screams or outrages occurred this weekend.