John Cage To Be Celebrated In Two-Day Opera House Festival

The life and works of iconic 20th century composer John Cage will be celebrated across a two day mini-festival at the Sydney Opera House as part of their The Composers series.

The festival will feature three performances by New York's Bang On A Can All-Stars as well as and experimental sessions and a lecture.

The lecture will be on Cage's controversial 4'33” piece, essentially four and a half minutes of silence, presented by Lyle Chan.

The program also features Cage's Musicircus, in which performers simultaneously play different compositions with actions dictated by chance. With audience members walking in and around the performers in the Western Foyer, professional musicians and students who would like to be involved can register on the Opera House's website.

Yarmila Alfonzetti, Producer of Classical Music, Sydney Opera House, said today that, “Producing a range of works that still challenge conventional ideas of music and performance, the Centenary Celebration has been developed as a creative homage to this leading avant-garde composer, musician and writer, reflecting his iconoclastic thinking and fertile imagination.”

“We are thrilled that the electric Bang on a Can All-Stars are part of this festival. They will bring a unique visceral and sonic approach to Cage's storytelling, as they perform in front of a collection of rarely seen paintings by John Cage assembled for Sydney Opera House by the John Cage Trust.”

The program:

Friday 2 November
7pm: John Cage And His American Descendants - Bang On A Can All-Stars, The Studio

Saturday 3 November
1.30pm: Lecture On Nothing – Lyle Chan, The Studio (free)
3pm: The Music Of John Cage And Brian Eno – Bang On A Can All-Stars, The Studio
4.30pm: Musicircus, Western Foyer (free)
7pm: Permission Granted – Bang On A Can All-Stars and Ensemble Offspring, The Studio

Tickets available here.