Contact Contemporary Music Presents 10th Annual INTERsection Festival, Now thru 9/2

INTERsection 2012, the 6th annual showcase of ground breaking, adventurous musical artists, returns today, August 31 – September 2 expanding to a three-day integrated music and arts festival that includes a Gala Opening today, August 31; a free twelve-hour New Music Marathon at Yonge-Dundas Square on Saturday, September 1, headlined by world renowned new music leaders Bang on a Can All-Stars from New York City; and a killer double-bill multi-media concert, Ambient2 – The Music of Brian Eno at the Panasonic Theatre on Sunday, September 2 featuring Bang on a Can All-Stars performing their groundbreaking arrangement of Brian Eno's classic ambient record Music For Airports, with film by Frank Scheffer and Contact performing their arrangement of Eno's Discreet Music with film by New York artist Suzanne Bocanegra.

Called "A marathon of sound in the middle of traffic" by Robert Everett Green of The Globe and Mail, the 12-hour New Music Marathon on Saturday, September 1 at Yonge-Dundas square is a literal cacophony of sound performed by Bang on a Can All-Stars, Contact, Jim Harley and Cam McKittrick, Edges, Dora Award winner Rick Sacks and Roman Pilates. TORQ percussion quartet will perform on a special Second Stage as part of Musicircus! in the Marketplace, a musical celebration in honour of the centenary of American composer John Cage's birth.

For their tenth anniversary, Contact Contemporary Music is thrilled to be presenting the artists they consider their most important influence, Bang on a Can All-Stars. Formed in 1992, Bang on a Can are recognized worldwide for their ultra-dynamic live performances and recordings of today's most innovative music. Freely crossing the boundaries between classical, jazz, rock, world and experimental music, this six-member amplified ensemble has consistently forged a distinct category-defying identity, taking music into uncharted territories and shattering the definition of what concert music is today.

Acclaimed by the New York Times for "methodical and mesmerizing" performances, Contact has firmly established itself as one of Canada's leading interpreters of the music of our time. Contact has performed at some of the world's most prestigious venues and new music festivals, including the Museum of Modern Art (New York), the Royal Ontario Museum (Toronto), the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival (UK), Open Ears Festival of Sound (Kitchener), and the Bang On A Can Marathon (New York).

Praised by the Globe and Mail for its "thought-provoking" and "highly entertaining" programming, Contact Contemporary Music is a concert producing organization that highlights collaborations with other media, established and emerging composers, performances in alternative spaces, and outreach to underserved communities that stress diversity, collaboration and accessibility.

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