"For lovers of the American outsider tradition, this is an absolute must. 
John Rockwell, New York Times

"A colossal crowd was amazed by an end result that seemed almost multimedia, fusing sculpture, installation, performance art and formal concert."  The London Guardian

"No music happening in America today is culturally more important than what Dean Drummond's Newband ensemble is doing to recreate, restore, and preserve Harry Partch's theatre works...Not only does Newband play with meticulous fidelity and  a physicality Partch would have loved, Drummond is gradually duplicating Partch's one-of-a-kind instruments, and the group explores dramatic possibilities with a devotion that, like Partch, isn't afraid to go off the deep end."  Kyle Gann, Village Voice

"Newband's director, Dean Drummond, is an old-time Partchian and he elicited quite the best Partch performances this writer has ever heard---crisper, more precise, more sharply etched and hence more colorful.  They were even better than the various recordings supervised by the composer himself."  John Rockwell, New York Times

"Under the direction of Dean Drummond, eleven members of Newband played at the Bang on a Can concert and their masterly renditions of three vintage Partch scores seemed to me comparable in every way to the authoritative composer-led performances made for the CRI, Columbia and Gate 5 labels."  Peter G. Davis, New York Magazine

And Newband's program represented these values, celebrating both the force of nature and the novelty of invention---choosing the primitive over the intellectual, the musical body over the musical mind, often deliberately experimenting with even the scales of Western musical traditions."
Edward Rothstein, New York Times 

"...it is remarkable how well it worked—in relation to the film and in the interaction among members of Drummond's orchestra, Newband.  Drummond's music is richly emotional and deeply expressive...also music that finds considerable power in what would be cracks on a piano keyboard...Drummond may be opening a world to people who had thought they would never like that kind of music." Washington Post 

"...all the pieces required utter virtuosity and absolute concentration on the part of Newband.  It was the kind of evening that delights fellow musicians because of its interesting perspectives and obvious artistry while widening the eyes and musical range of laymen."  Tim Feran, The Columbus Dispatch

"What sets Newband apart from most other contemporary music groups is an ability to play the widest variety of material while retaining its own unmistakeable sound...Stefani Starin, a co-founder of Newband, proved once again that she is an alert and imaginative flutist...Dominic Donato performed with the timing and slippery, wiry grace of a hyperactive octopus."  Tim Page, New York Newsday

"Partch's instruments offer ample visual attractions of their own, but this production of The Wayward has a circuslike staging by Tom O'Horgan, with effective scenery, costumes and masks by Perry Arthur Kroeger.  The able cast includes Stephen Kalm, Wilbur Pauley, Aaron Mendelson and Neal James, with some involvement from Mr. Drummond and members of Newband."  Allan Kozinn, New York Times

"And the music?  It was in varying ways absorbing, appealing, at times exciting, at times just plain pretty, often unusual and always interesting" William Glackin, The Sacramento Bee