Big Ears Festival, one of the most ambitious gatherings around the country, will return to downtown Knoxville, TN, in March with an expansive lineup featuring iconic artists from an array of genres, plus new musical works and more.
Included in the newly revealed offerings are a 50th anniversary celebration from The Art Ensemble of Chicago; an early production of TRIPTYCH, a multimedia experience celebrating the work of legendary photographer Robert Mapplethorpe and featuring music composed by The National’s Bryce Dessner and more; and The Nashville Ballet’s first non-hometown performance of Lucy Negro Redux featuring music composed by Rhiannon Giddens.
Other artists featured in Big Ears’ 2019 lineup are Bill Frisell, Richard Thompson, Giddens teaming up with Francesco Turrisi, Nils Frahm, Spiritualized, Mercury Rev, Mary Halvorson, Jack DeJohnette and many more. See the full announced list of participants below.
Tickets and more information on Big Ears 2019, which is set for March 21–24, can be found at the festival’s website.
Big Ears 2019 Lineup
ACME
Alvin Lucier
Avishai Cohen Quartet
Bill Frisell & Thomas Morgan
Bill Frisell and the Mesmerists featuring Tony Scheer, Kenny Wollesen and the films of Bill Morrison
Brooklyn Rider
Carl Stone
Carla Bley TRIOS with Andy Sheppard and Steve Swallow
Carla Kihlstedt
Clarice Jensen + Jonathan Turner: For this from that will be filled
Coupler
DeJohnette Coltrane Garrison
Derek Gripper
Evan Parker / Matt Wright Trance Map+
Ever Present Orchestra featuring Stephen O’Malley and Oren Ambarchi
Harold Budd
International Contemporary Ensemble performing the work of Carla Kihlstedt, Anna Thorvaldsdottir, Ellen Reid, Ashley Fure
Irreversible Entanglements
Jerusalem In My Heart
Jlin
Joan La Barbara: Voice is the Original Instrument
Joep Beving
Kara-Lis Coverdale
Kayhan Kalhor
Kim Kashkashian
Lonnie Holley
Mary Halvorson’s Code Girl
Mathias Eick Quintet
Matt Wilson’s Honey & Salt
Mercury Rev
Meredith Monk & Vocal Ensemble Cellular Songs
Nashville Ballet: Lucy Negro Redux
Conceived, directed, and choreographed by Paul Vasterling
with music composed and performed by Rhiannon Giddens & Francesco Turrisi
and poetry by Caroline Randall Williams
nief-norf
Nik Bärtsch’s RONIN
Nils Frahm
Peter Gregson
Rachel Grimes: The Way Forth
Rafiq Bhatia: Breaking English
Ralph Towner
Rhiannon Giddens and Francesco Turrisi
Richard Thompson: Killed in Action
Roomful of Teeth
Schlippenbach Trio
Shai Maestro Trio
Sons of Kemet
Spiritualized
Sun of Goldfinger (David Torn, Tim Berne, Ches Smith)
The Art Ensemble of Chicago
The Comet is Coming
The Messthetics
Theo Bleckmann: Berlin – Songs of Love and War, Peace and Exile – and – Hello Earth! The Music of Kate Bush
Thumbscrew
Tim Berne’s Snakeoil
TRIPTYCH: On the Work of Robert Mapplethorpe
Featuring Roomful of Teeth. Composed by Bryce Dessner. Libretto by Korde Arrington Tuttle feat. the work of Patti Smith & Essex Hemphill. Directed by Daniel Fish
Vijay Iyer and Craig Taborn
Wadada Leo Smith’s Nda, Performing “Divine Love” With Bobby Naughton and Dwight Andrews
Wadada Leo Smith Solo: Reflections and Meditations on Monk
Yves Tumor
5 Comments comments associated with this post
I'd rather make NICK great again
September 28, 2018 at 12:56 pm#MNGA
nick
September 27, 2018 at 2:14 pmfuck euro trash artists.
#MAGA
If Americans had any taste...
September 27, 2018 at 12:22 pmThey would realize how killer this lineup is! Most of these artists don’t even bother booking US dates, since there isn’t much of an audience here for them. They mostly play Europe. This is a great chance to see some excellent players. Carla Bley, Harold Budd, Frisell, Jack DeJohnette…man!
nick
September 27, 2018 at 12:06 pmseriously.
what a pile of shit
GuerillaKuss
September 27, 2018 at 6:33 amPretty sure half of these artists are just made up names.