Big Ears Festival - September 30, 2025

John Zorn Returns! (Part 1)

In the last 50 years, very few artists have been as boundless...

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John Zorn Returns! (Part 1)

After first emerging in the experimental Wild West of New York’s downtown scene in the ’70s, the span and scale of Zorn’s work have only seemed to increase over the intervening decades. From his breakthrough reinterpretations of Ennio Morricone and ground-breaking musical “games” like Cobra to his splenetic art-grindcore with Naked City, from his jazz-reorienting in Masada to his compositional gauntlets like Moonchild and Incerto, Zorn has packed several lifetimes of music-making into 72 years. After making his Big Ears debut in 2022 and celebrating his 70th birthday here in 2023, Zorn returns to Big Ears with a staggering cast of collaborators for two days at the Bijou Theatre. Here are just some of the performances you have to look forward to.

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Masada Quartet: A Classic Reassembled

Zorn’s Masada Quartet redefined jazz in the 1990s—Ornette Coleman’s free-form spirit meets Jewish klezmer scales. The original quartet featuring Zorn, Dave Douglas, Greg Cohen, and Joey Baron reunite for two rare, unmissable sets.

Barbara Hannigan Sings Zorn

When Barbara Hannigan first took on John Zorn’s Jumalattaret—a 25-minute tour de force inspired by Finnish goddesses—critics marveled at its audacity. “Can a voice even do this?” asked The New York Times, noting the piece’s near-impossible vocal acrobatics. For Hannigan, one of the world’s most renowned and adventurous sopranos, it was both a perfect fit and a new frontier.

Cobra Strikes Again

Cobra is Zorn’s legendary musical game: musicians respond to his flashcards and gestures in a mix of command, chaos, and collaboration. The results veer from hardcore tumult to sudden melody, always unpredictable and never the same twice. At Big Ears 2026, the players will be top-tier—Wendy Eisenberg, Celine Kang, Brian Marsella, John Medeski, Jay Campbell, Jorge Roeder, Simon Hanes, Ikue Mori, Sae Hashimoto, Ches Smith, Dave Lombardo, William Winant, and Kenny Wollesen join Zorn for this fierce, one-of-a-kind psychodrama.

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Zorn Plays Harry Smith

Harry Smith’s films—swirling colors, occult symbolism, and rapid abstractions—remain landmarks of avant-garde cinema. Zorn, who first encountered them as a teen in New York, is joined by Ikue Mori, Jorge Roeder, and Ches Smith to improvise new scores, bringing Smith’s mystical, psychedelic visions into the present.

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