Calendar of Events
Big Ears Festival
Category: Festivals, special events and Music
Big Ears Festival has officially announced its return for March 24 – 27, 2022!
The lineup is mind-blowing: more than 100 performances that cross all boundaries, as well as discussions, workshops, installations, and surprise collaborations, unfolding over more than a dozen venues across walkable and historic downtown Knoxville.
We're pleased to highlight some exciting new special program and projects to explore at Big Ears 2022:
• Trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire plays duets with drummer Andrew Cyrille;
• Nathalie Joachim makes a solo performance for flute, voice, and electronics;
• Saul Williams performs a rare solo spoken word set;
• James McVinnie plays a solo organ recital featuring work by J.S. Bach and Philip Glass;
• Singer / songwriter Leyla McCalla performs her Vari-Colored Songs: A Tribute to Langston Hughes, accompanied by a string quintet from Nashville new music ensemble, chatterbird;
• Guitarist Gyan Riley joins Bang on a Can All-Stars to perform Terry Riley’s Autodreamographical Tales;
• Attacca Quartet play a concert featuring work by Flying Lotus, Squarepusher, and others from their release Real Life; on an additional program, Caroline Shaw joins Attacca to perform music composed exclusively by Shaw;
• Sō Percussion play Julia Wolfe’s Forbidden Love, Nathalie Joachim’s Note to Self (a piece for Sō and Joachim), and the world premiere of Angélica Negrón’s When the Sun Hits Just Right (an octet for Sō and Kronos Quartet);
• Composer and saxophonist Miguel Zenón and Spektral Quartet play Yo Soy La Tradición, as well as the world premiere of a new quartet Zenon has written for Spektral;
• Ensemble Dal Niente play a full two-day sequence of brief sets at the Knoxville Museum of Art.
There’s much to explore and discover, from a dive into the heart and soul of New Orleans music and the Afro-Caribbean cultures that influence it, to a performance by Hadestown-creator Anaïs Mitchell’s great new band, Bonny Light Horseman. A special performance by the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra; alt-rock legends Animal Collective, Kim Gordon, and Low; and a stunning world-class jazz lineup are just a taste of what’s on tap for the festival weekend.
