Without a doubt, the 28th Annual MATA Festival is the liveliest and most interesting musical event happening in NYC on Memorial Day weekend, May 21 – 23. Ever since the Festival was co-founded by Philip Glass in the 1990s, it has been the prime opportunity for concertgoers to hear “Tomorrow’s Music Today.”

This year’s programs are fascinating and provocative – tap-dancing to music by Morton Feldman and Steve Reich, anyone? – and the performers are top-notch, including violinists Miranda Cuckson, Conrad Harris, and Leah Asher, pianists Marilyn Nonken and Taka Kigawa, BlackBox Ensemble, Unnameable Strings, and tap/pointe dance company The Bang Group, among others. Plus, there’s a six-hour experimental “rave” on May 20! All in all, the MATA Festival is not to be missed.