In addition to celebrating Carla Kihlstedt’s “26 Little Deaths” and the Edward Gorey Centennial, Present Music brings two most recently commissioned works to Big Ears Festival, Andy Akiho— a composer relatively new to the ensemble and Present Music’s longest-running collaborator, Turkish-American Kamran Ince. Both share an adventurous spirit, an episodic flair, and an incredible ear for instrumental color, and a passionate approach to music-making.

The Big Ears performance will open with a chestnut from the inimitable David Lang. A spur-of-the-moment decision years ago led to a clangorous encore version of Steppenwolf’s  “Born to be Wild” (delivered in droll monotone by the composer himself). Kihlstedt, Akiho, Ince, and Lang, with the untamed musicians of Present Music; “lookin’ for adventure, and whatever comes our way…”