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Ecstatic Music Festival: 2017 lineup & tickets (Sleigh Bells, Kronos Quartet, San Fermin & more)

The 2017 Ecstatic Music Festival runs Jan 9 through May 13 at The Kaufman Center in NYC, and this year’s lineup of alt-classical matchups include San Fermin & NOW Ensemble on January 25; Sleigh Bells & Hrishikesh Hirway for a live taping of the Song Exploder podcast on February 9; Ambrose Akinmusire & Kool A.D. with Mivos Quartet on February 18; Thums Up (Vijay Iyer, Himanshu Suri, Rafiq Bhatia, Kassa Overall) & Arooj Aftab on March 4; Kronos Quartet & Face the Music on March 9 (at the Greene Space not Kaufman Ctr); Roomful of Teeth & Nick Zammuto (The Books) on March 12; and more. Full lineup is below.

The Thums Up event on March 4 sounds especially interesting:

The trailblazing, Grammy-nominated jazz pianist and composer Vijay Iyer joins forces with an all-star ensemble of equally brilliant, inventive, and musically multilingual performer/composers Himanshu Suri (formerly of Das Racist), guitarist Rafiq Bhatia (Son Lux) and drummer/rapper Kassa Overall for a voyage across multiple musical landscapes, articulated by the individual brilliance of the four collaborators. Pakistani vocalist/composer Arooj Aftab will join Thums Up and also perform a set of her own songs with Leo Genovese, piano; Jorn Bielfeldt, drums; and Yusuke Yamamoto, synths.

This year’s fest kicks off, as usual with a Bang on a Call All-Stars People’s Commissioning Fund Concert on January 9 which will feature new works by Nico Muhly, Anna Thorvaldsdottir and Felipe Waller, an excerpt from Michael Gordon’s chamber opera Van Gogh, music by Philip Glass and more.

Tickets for this and all Ecstatic Music Festival performances are on sale now. You can also buy discounted passes for the whole festival. Check out the full 2017 Ecstatic Music Festival schedule below.

2017 ECSTATIC MUSIC FESTIVAL LINEUP/SCHEDULE

Monday, Jan. 9, 7:30pm
Bang on a Call All-Stars People’s
Commissioning Fund Concert
a New Sounds Live co-presentation hosted by WNYC’s John Schaefer, streamed live on Q2 Music

Wednesday, Jan. 25, 7:30pm
San Fermin & NOW Ensemble
a New Sounds Live co-presentation hosted by WNYC’s John Schaefer, streamed live on Q2 Music

Thursday, Feb. 9, 7:30pm
Song Exploder Live with
Hrishikesh Hirway & Sleigh Bells

Saturday, Feb. 18, 7:30pm
Ambrose Akinmusire & Kool A.D. with
Mivos Quartet
presented in partnership with Liquid Music

Saturday, Mar. 4, 7:30pm
Thums Up (Vijay Iyer, Himanshu Suri, Rafiq Bhatia, Kassa Overall) & Arooj Aftab

Tuesday, Mar. 7, 7:30pm
Kronos Quartet & Face the Music
this concert is at The Greene Space at WNYC & WQXR

Sunday, Mar. 12, 7:30pm
Roomful of Teeth & Nick Zammuto

Monday, Mar. 27, 7:30 pm
Steve Lehman & Sélébéyone

Saturday, May 13, 7:30 pm
Alarm Will Sound – Alarm System