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Listen to the Future!
Hear what CYSO coaches, students, parents and friends have to say about CYSO.
You Won't Hear a Thing; You'll Hear Everything
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 16, 2007
Media Contact:
Linda Solotaire
847.809.6301
Linda@solorohm.net
CHICAGO – Chicago Composers Forum (CCF) is pleased to present their 2007 production of John Cage’s
MUSICIRCUS at the Chicago Cultural Center on Sunday October 7, 2007 from 11am to 4pm. Beginning at
noon, thanks to generous support from The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, all ages can experience "art as
life" with hundreds of Chicago musicians, artists, and performers in one place at the same time – and for
FREE! At 11am CCF will present Art Is Life: An Introduction to John Cage and His Musicircus, a lecture
demonstration in the Cultural Center’s Claudia Cassidy Theatre on the 2rd floor. The Chicago Cultural Center is
located in downtown Chicago on Michigan Ave., with entrances at 78 Washington and wheelchair accessible
at 77 E. Randolph. **It is easily accessible by public transportation and there is ample public parking nearby.
"You Won't Hear a Thing; You'll hear Everything" was John Cage's description of his seminal work Musicircus.
The underlying idea of Musicircus reflects Cage's social philosophy of autonomy and responsibility in which
each performer or "act" individually contributes to a greater whole. In 2005, CCF presented Musicircus at the
Museum of Contemporary Art to over 4,000 people of every age. MUSICIRCUS, CCF's second biennial
production, will be a community-building event bringing a wide-ranging audience together with a huge
sampling of Chicago's diverse art community in a single four-hour collaborative performance. Among the
artists MUSICIRCUS will showcase are: dal niente performing John Cage’s Water Walk for one performer and
bathtub, blender, five un-powered radios and more; Sid Yiddish w/ $2 Cockroach performing Suite For Furby
On Shofar In D Minor; a solo performed by Asimina Chremos in honor of dancer Carolyn Brown—a founding
member of Merce Cunningham's troupe and a friend and admirer of John Cage; backgammon - an
improvisation group dedicated to exploring electronic, computer, and acoustic sounds; Jane Boxall’s solo
marimba set, which includes music from North and South America, Europe and Japan and new commissioned
works; Joshua Manchester, whose percussion instruments seek to emulate a kitchen timer melted on the
stove; Monika Ekks, doing Who Gets the Privilege of Disappointing Me Next? - an alternately hilarious and
poignant documentation of one woman's quest for love in the greater Chicagoland area; gallery: abstract
black’s Jayve John Montgomery performing Negro with the Trumpet at His Lips; and GreenSugar, with some
high-energy stomp rock and roll that keeps true guitar rock alive today. Please check out
www.chicagocomposers.org for a complete listing, artists’ bios and more.
In addition to support from The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, MUSICIRCUS is sponsored in part by Macy’s
and the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs. For more information call 773.418.0119 or visit
www.chicagocomposers.org.
On October 6, 2007 from 6pm-10pm, Rosenthal Fine Art Inc. will host CHICAGO COMPOSERS FORUM BENEFIT
PREVIEW OF MUSICIRCUS and an exhibition *ellsworth snyder and John Cage: Inspiration and
Collaboration. The evening will feature performances by Third Coast Percussion, John Holzaepfel (piano),
Lois Guderian and others; of compositions by ellsworth and Cage, including a performance of One5 for piano
solo by Cage for ellsworth. Benefit Tickets are $75 includes food, drink and entertainment. The gallery will
donate a percentage of sales during the event. Rosenthal Fine Art gallery is located at 3 East Huron, Second
Floor in Chicago, IL 60611 Call 773.418.0119 or visit www.chicagocomposers.org to RSVP.
*The official opening of the exhibition is Friday, October 12, 2007. It ends November 9, 2007. The gallery is located just east of State St.
on Huron, 2 blocks south of Chicago Ave. and north of Ontario. Gallery hours are M-F 10-5 and Sat. 11-5. For more information please
call 312-475-0700 or email jennifer@rosenthalfineart.com
# # #
(CCF) is a non-profit organization whose mission it is to serve
audiences, performers and composers in the creation and shared
experience of new music. In collaboration with sister organizations in
music and other arts, and with **corporate, foundation and governmental support, CCF has worked to raise
the profile of today’s music and its practitioners through commissions, concerts, educational events and
hands-on workshops and salons. CCF is dedicated to providing an environment that encourages the creation
and presentation of new works by its members and to identifying, developing and nurturing musicians and
audiences that reflect the strength and diversity of the Chicago community.
The Chicago Composers Forum is currently in residence at the Zhou B. Art Center in Bridgeport. To learn
more about CCF, join our mailing list, become a member, or to make a contribution, please visit our website at
www.chicagocomposers.org. CCF BOARD OF DIRECTORS: President Marita Bolles, Vice President Lois Guderian, Secretary Ryan
Ingebritsen, Treasurer James Ascot, and Christopher Preissing, Executive Director.
**THE CHICAGO COMPOSERS FORUM IS GENEROUSLY SUPPORTED BY Alphawood Foundation, The Boeing
Company, Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, Chicago Park District, Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley
Foundation, Illinois Arts Council, John D. and Katherine C. MacArthur Foundation, Katherine A. Abelson Fund,
Macy's Department Stores, Meet The Composer, National Endowment for the Arts, Polk Bros Foundation, and
The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation.Chicago Composers Forum’s 2007 production of John Cage’s MUSICIRCUS and related events are part of
Chicago Artists Month, the twelfth annual celebration of Chicago’s vibrant visual art community. In October,
more than 200 exhibitions of emerging and established artists, openings, demonstrations, tours, open studios
and neighborhood art walks take place at galleries, cultural centers and arts buildings throughout the city. For
more information, call 312/744-6630 or visit www.chicagoartistsmonth.org. Chicago Artists Month is
coordinated by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and is sponsored by the Chicago Office of Tourism
with additional support from 3Arts.
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JOHN CAGE’S MUSICIRCUS: HISTORY John Cage first brought the idea of the
Musicircus to fruition in 1967 at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana where
its first performance included jazz bands, pianists, dancers, mimes, vocalists, films,
slides, black lights, balloons, cider and popcorn. A fusion of the words “music” and “circus,” the Musicircus is the expression of several of Cage’s fundamental ideas
about artistic creation and execution. It insists, for example, on a “multiplicity of
centers” — the insistence on autonomy for every individual component within the
work, each a legitimate focus of one’s attention at any time. It merges diverse art forms into a single, largescale
event that celebrates all of these forms at once. Most important, perhaps, it expresses Cage’s
burgeoning fascination with anarchic theory and social philosophy, as the result is not “dictated” by the
composer, nor calls for the performers to yield their activities in deference to other performers (which would
suggest an internal power structure among them). Instead, in anarchic fashion, each performer or ensemble
responsibly contributes to what becomes a larger mélange of sound and vision. The underlying idea for this
piece (and it is certainly an “idea” for a piece rather than being any kind of notated composition) was also the
basis for other works in Cage’s output, each highlighting concurrent yet independent multi-media events. But it
was the original Musicircus that is often recognized as the cornerstone of works in this genre.
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To the audience attending this kind of event, the point is not the clear
discernment of any individual musical event from beginning to end — an
orchestra might be momentarily obscured by a passing barbershop quartet, or a
harmonica player at one end of a room may well be playing simultaneously with
but independent of any of a number of other musicians who are engaged in
their own musical activities. Indeed, no single person can experience any
Musicircus in its entirety. Instead, audience members ultimately create their own individual versions of the
piece, determined not only by where in the area they might be situated at any given time, but by the events on
which they choose to focus from moment to moment.
`David Patterson, Music Historian
October 6, 2007
6pm-10pm CHICAGO COMPOSERS FORUM MUSICIRCUS BENEFIT PREVIEW
and
*ellsworth snyder and John Cage: Inspiration and Collaboration
an exhibition hosted by
Rosenthal Fine Art Inc.
3 East Huron, Second Floor, Chicago, IL 60611
Benefit Tickets are $75
The evening will feature art and performances by
Third Coast Percussion, John Holzaepfel (piano), Lois Guderian and others; of compositions by ellsworth and
Cage, including a performance of a piece written by Cage for ellsworth.
The gallery will donate a percentage of any sales during the event.
RSVP 773.418.0119 or visit www.chicagocomposers.org *The official opening of the exhibition is Friday, October 12, 2007. It ends November 9, 2007.
The gallery is located just East of State St. on Huron, 2 blocks south of Chicago Ave. and North of Ontario. Gallery hours are M-F 10-5
and Sat. 11-5. For more information please call 312-475-0700 or email jennifer@rosenthalfineart.com
(Editors please note the lowercase letters on “ellsworth snyder” is correct.)
* * *
October 7, 2007
11am-4pm
CHICAGO COMPOSERS FORUM
Presents
John Cage’s
MUSICIRCUS
2007
Chicago Cultural Center
78 East Washington Street, Chicago, IL 60602
FREE! All Ages!
11am Art Is Life: An Introduction to John Cage and His Musicircus
12pm MUSICIRCUS
Hundreds of musicians, singers, artists, dancers, poets, actors, jugglers, performance artists and you!
www.chicagocomposers.org
**Chicago Cultural Center (CCC) is located on Michigan Ave., with entrances on Washington and
wheelchair accessible at 77 E. Randolph. Call the Cultural Center at 312.744.6630
Metra Electric (MELEC) and South Shore (MNICD) station links directly to the CCC through the Pedway. The Pedway elevator opens
directly into the Randolph Street lobby. Trains including the Orange, Brown, Green and Purple, stop at Randolph and Wabash, just west of
the CCC. Subway trains, which include the Red line and Blue line, stop at Washington and Randolph on State and Dearborn, respectively,
just west of the CCC. The following bus lines stop either on Washington or Michigan, just steps from the Chicago Cultural Center: #s3, 4,
6, 14, 20, 56, 124, 145, 147, 151 and #157.
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