Cage: Beyond Silence – John Cage Composer Portrait

Cage: Beyond Silence
John Cage Composer Portrait
Curated by Dustin Hurt, Director of Bowerbird.
The Philadelphia performance is part of the festival Cage: Beyond Silence, presented by Bowerbird in conjunction with the Philadelphia Museum

PROGRAM
Freeman Etudes #4, #8, and #16 for solo violin (1977-80)
Sonata for Two Voices (1933)
Music for Nine (1984-87)
Four5 for saxophone quartet (1991)
Thirteen (1992)

The PRISM Quartet and the Curtis Institute of Music’s 20/21 Ensemble join forces for a program of late-career music by the iconic John Cage on the centennial of his birth. The Philadelphia program is part of “Cage: Beyond Silence,” a major festival produced by Bowerbird in conjunction with the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The program will be previewed in New York City at the Tenri Cultural Institute.

Dustin Hurt, Bowerbird’s Director and the curator of “Cage: Beyond Silence,” writes, “In 2012, the year of the Cage Centenary, and now twenty years after his death, we are still grasping to understand the enormity of Cage’s contributions. His infamous ‘silent piece’, 4’33”, composed at the near start of his career, still dominates discussion, at times overshadowing the subsequent forty years of artistic output. But Cage’s tireless artistic exploration and innovation—which also grew to include visual arts and writing—produced one of history’s most unique and nuanced musical voices. We invite you to engage with Cage’s work, welcoming its complexity, unpredictability, and unexpected beauty.”