The 100th anniversary of John Cage’s birthday.
Programme:
4pm – 5pm, Litewski Square, Lublin
Musical happening: ”Lesson” with pupils from Lublin’s music schools
Since the founding of the first music school in Lublin, thousands of pupils have spent thousands of hours with their instruments, practicing and playing music in class and at home. Learning music they produce cascades of sounds of different tone colors, different pitch and different intensity. These sounds blend into the city’s soundscape, which was recognized by 20th century composers as a part of the world of music. The ordered sounds of musical compositions meet with the ambient noise of the city, characterized by constant change. The idea behind Lesson, a musical happening at the Litewski Square in the city centre, is to creatively confront and bring together these two, forever coexistent musical worlds.
7pm, Musical Theatre, 5 Marii Curie-Skłodowskiej Street, Lublin
Concert: The Art of The Toy Piano – A toy piano homage to John Cage. Works include his Suite for Toy Piano and new compositions by Cage’s “spiritual children”. Performed by Margaret Leng Tan (Singapore/US) and Paweł Romańczuk (Poland).
Margaret Leng Tan
A pianist born in Singapore and based in New York, Margaret Leng Tan has been called “the diva of avant-garde pianism” by The New Yorker. She has also been called “the queen of the toy piano” and “the toy piano’s Rubenstein.” After discovering Cage’s Suite for Toy Piano in 1993, Tan became fascinated by the artistic potential of toy instruments and her groundbreaking CD, The Art of the Toy Piano, made her the world’s first toy piano virtuoso.
In 1981 Tan meet John Cage and they collaborated during the last 11 years of his life. In 1984 she received The National Endowment for the Arts' Solo Recitalist Award. She is renowned for her interpretations of John Cage.
Paweł Romańczuk
Since 2006 Paweł Romańczuk has been the leader of the group Małe Instrumenty (Small Instruments), composing and arranging music for film, theatre and public campaigns. He builds his own instruments and mechanical sound installations and owns a collection of over 200 instruments, which he uses during performances and in the studio. He has been promoting toy music in Poland and is the author of presentations and lectures on ”toy music culture.”. He also leads workshops on exploring new sources of sound, the idea of field recording and site-specific music.
Admision free
John Cage Year – Lublin 2012 www.johncageyear.pl
Organizer: Centre for Intercultural Creative Initiatives "Crossroads" www.rozdroza.com
Co-organizer: Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin www.umcs.lublin.pl
Musical Theatre www.teatrmuzyczny.eu