WKCR is very pleased to present a birthday broadcast for avant-garde composer John Cage on the 113th anniversary of his birthday. The broadcast will run for 24 hours, preempting all regularly scheduled programs.

Cage is an exemplar of New Music, as we define it at WKCR, and of contemporary classical music. Born in 1912, he studied piano as a child. In his twenties, he began composing, studying with the likes of Richard Buhlig (who premiered Arnold Schoenberg’s Opus 11), Henry Cowell, Adolf Weiss, and, finally, Schoenberg himself. In the late 1930s, Cage began experimenting with found objects as musical instruments. This exploration culminated in his invention of the prepared piano, an invention which implemented objects such as screws among the strings of the piano to alter its sound and add a percussive element, in 1940. Cage later found Eastern philosophy, including Zen Buddhism, and incorporated chance operations into his music. He also developed an interest in silence as “a change of mind” and, by his own account, “devoted [his] music to it.” One of his best known pieces, 4’ 33’”, is performed in the absence of intentional sound.

This is not WKCR’s first time celebrating the work of John Cage. In 1992, we presented an extended John Cage festival. In 1987, John Cage used WKCR’s studio as his extended musical instrument: WKCR DJs passed him opera records, from which he played random excerpts, while he manipulated other sound variables from the studio. Listeners can look forward to the re-broadcast of these original John Cage opera tapes, which cannot be heard anywhere else.

Listeners can tune in to our John Cage Birthday Broadcast on 89.9FM or stream the birthday broadcast live on our website, wkcr.org. Follow WKCR on Instagram (@wkcr) and Twitter (@WKCRFM) for updates about this special broadcast and future events. As always, online listening is available 24/7 at wkcr.org via our web stream.