From NYTimes.com:
Empty Words (Friday) Varispeed present a new arrangement of Cage’s “Empty Words” as an all-night extravaganza, to be performed at several sites in Brooklyn, and ending Saturday morning on the Brooklyn Bridge. Part of the point of the work is to separate language from meaning, and to use letters, words, phrases and syllables in purely musical ways. The work begins at Roulette, continues at Exapno, and ends with a two-and-a-half-hour procession from Brooklyn Borough Hall across the Brooklyn Bridge. The work’s sections begin at 8 p.m. at Roulette, 509 Atlantic Avenue, near Third Avenue, Boerum Hill, Brooklyn; at 11 p.m. at Exapno, 33 Flatbush Avenue, fifth floor, at Livingston Street, Fort Greene, Brooklyn; and at 5 a.m. at Borough Hall, 209 Joralemon Street, Downtown Brooklyn; varispeedcollective.com; free. (Allan Kozinn)
Grand Band (Tuesday) Six of the finest, busiest pianists active in New York’s contemporary-classical scene — Vicky Chow, David Friend, Paul Kerekes, Blair McMillen, Lisa Moore and Isabelle O’Connell — join forces in this rousing new ensemble, which generated substantial buzz in its debut at the Bang on a Can Marathon in June. The program includes works by Steve Reich, Philip Glass, Julia Wolfe and Kate Moore. At 7:30 p.m., Le Poisson Rouge, 158 Bleecker Street, near Thompson Street, Greenwich Village, (212) 505-3474, lepoissonrouge.com; $15 in advance, $20 day of show. (Smith)
JACK Quartet (Saturday) This virtuosic new-music ensemble takes the stage at the Rite of Summer Festival to perform music by Machaut, Ives, Brian Baumbusch, Ken Thomson, Payton MacDonald and David Crowell. At 1 and 3 p.m. (rain date is Sunday at 1 and 3 p.m.), Colonel’s Row, Governors Island, riteofsummer.com; free. (Kozinn)
Phil Kline (Friday) Riffing on “Indeterminacy,” John Cage’s 1959 compendium of one-minute stories, the composer Phil Kline updates the notion for Cage’s centenary with “dreamcitynine,” a work built around 60 brief stories recorded by the likes of Jim Jarmusch, Bill T. Jones and Philip Glass. Until now, the piece has been an invisible sound installation; on this night, though, you’ll hardly be able to miss the 60 percussionists the ensemble Talujon has assembled for a live interpretation. Download the related smartphone app (instructions are on the Lincoln Center Web site) and you can even join in. At 6:30 p.m., Hearst Plaza, Lincoln Center, Lincoln Center, lcoutofdoors.org; free. (Smith)
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