Now, John Cage. John Cage is the sort of composer that might have been created in a lab, if he hadn’t sprung to life organically – equal parts classical knowledge, wicked humor, and a compulsion to innovate regardless of audience enjoyment or comprehension. People hated that guy in the ’50s. He premiered an entirely silent piece in 1952. 1952! Ozzie and Harriet went on the air in 1952, and here’s this madman presenting a silent piece – with notation, mind you, written out – to those audiences. What comes after that? Student at Juilliard are taking this week to work it out; this year’s Focus! Festival is all Cage, all the time. It runs through Friday. (FULL ARTICLE: Vivien Schewitzer, The New York Times)