June 15, 2024 | 480 Arts | 2:00 - 8:39 p.m.
Pre-Registration
Starting April 20th, pre-registration opens. Tickets are pay-what-you-can, recommended $25 for adults and $15 for students and children. The audience is welcome to come and go throughout the event.
Tickets are available at the door, but we recommend pre-registering and RSVP’ing via Facebook.
What to expect?
The score created by John Cage indicates that “this composition is nothing more than an invitation to any number of musicians willing to perform simultaneously anything or in any way they desire.”
The manuscript is a list of musicians for the first performance (Champaign-Urbana, IL, November 17, 1967) and includes a diagram for their positions in the performance space.
John Cage also organized a MUSICIRCUS event here in the Twin Cities presented by the Walker Art Center at the Macalester College Fieldhouse on April 11, 1970.
RenegadeEnsemble’s version of MUSICIRCUS expands upon the original idea with musical activities for all ages and abilities inspired by John Cage’s pioneering work with chance, noise, and open-eared listening..
This over six hour event will include simultaneous performances and activities at 480 Arts in Saint Paul.
Food and Beverage
Our MUSICIRCUS event will be catered by Butcher Salt, a food truck and bar service that will provide onsite food, snacks, and beverages. The food truck will be parked outside between 4:00 - 7:00 p.m. and will sell an assortment of sliders, sandwiches, and fries.
Bar service will begin at 2:00 p.m. with beer, wine, and seltzers and happy hour with spirits and cocktails begins at 4:00 until 7:30 p.m.
Musical Performances | Activities
John Cage and Karlheinz Stockhausen in a funhouse airplane, ca. 1958.
MUSICIRCUS Stages
(The Hangar)
The Hangar is the multi-chambered “heart” of MUSICIRCUS. There are three stages with overlapping performances by various ensembles and musicians performing their own music. Audience seating near the center of the space is flexible, or the audience may wander through the space to listen more closely to any of the musical “acts.” At the very center is a microphone for an “emcee” (M.C.) to give instructions to the ensembles and audience if needed and make special announcements. The M.C. might also sing, improvise, or read poetry. There will be additional music stands available for extra musicians or audience members to create their own temporary stages in the space as needed.
If you are interested in performing in The Hangar, please complete the Performer/Volunteer Form to reserve your timeslot. Most performances will be acoustic, but we do have the ability to support simple “plug-and-play” electronic instruments or setups if known in advance.
David Tudor and John Cage listening to a bell at Ryoanji Temple, ca. 1962
Listen | Dream
(Lobby)
A quiet place for reflection and contemplation, this room is very quiet and filled with books and artwork. The audience can whisper or talk quietly, but its main purpose is for reading, quiet listening, and dreaming. This room is an escape from the sensory overload of the other rooms.
Every 30-45 minutes, one of John Cage’s quieter pieces for piano and/or voices may be performed in full, or excerpted. After one of these performances, anyone in the room may also participate by whispering a spoken word piece, telling a story, or creating a found poem from the available texts. Between performances, the room returns to its quietude.
If you are interested in performing a work by John Cage that fits the criteria for the Listen | Dream Lobby, please indicate so by using the Performer/Volunteer Form. We are also looking to borrow copies of John Cage’s scores or other books or artwork that can be loaned for this event.
John Cage playing a toy piano.
Piano Col-Lage | Cage Loon-Pail
(Studio 1)
This craft activity involves audience members creating collage works for two pianos. Near the stage are tables with craft supplies (paper, scissors, ink, white out, etc.) and the audience is invited to create their musical collages and submit them for performance by the two pianists. There will be instructions, examples and bins of loose sheet music nearby that can be cut and pasted. Pianists will interpret the scores in any number of ways (e.g. upside down, rotating the pages, choosing to skip or repeat material). All submitted pages will be collected into a commemorative book from this year’s event.
If you are interested in performing as one of the pianists in Piano Col-Lage or would like to donate sheet music to be destroyed and recreated in this craft activity, please indicate that using the Performer/Volunteer Form.
John Cage happily laughing.
Organ² / ASLSP
(Studio 1)
At the center of Studio 1 is a scaled-down version of Part 1 of John Cage’s Organ²/ASLSP for solo organ that will last the duration of the event (6 hours and 39 minutes). Attendants will change the pitches using a stopwatch according to a precise timetable calculated from Cage’s graphic score. There are 122 actions in total. There have been many performances of different durations of this infamous work but the most famous one, called the Halberstadt Event, was started on May 9, 2001 in Halberstadt, Germany and is scheduled to conclude after 639 years on September 4, 2640. The last action occurred earlier this year on February 5, 2024 and the next action is scheduled on August 5, 2026.
If you are interested in assisting with this work in any way, please indicate so in the Performer/Volunteer Form.
Full Schedule
John Cage listening to a snow globe.
4’33” Bingo
(The Hangar)
Near one end of the The Hangar opposite the three stages are several tables with objects and instruments that can be played by musicians and audience in an activity inspired by John Cage’s 4’33’”. Through a randomized drawing, the 33 instruments are to played in 4 durations (30”, 1'40", 2'23", 4'33"), including silent performance. A running clock showing the different timers will be available to aid performers. As the different combinations are used up, some instruments will fall silent and be replaced by new instruments over the course of the event.
If you are interested in participating in 4’33” Bingo, or would like to donate an instrument or musical object, please indicate that using the Performer/Volunteer Form.
John Cage foraging for wild mushrooms.
M.C. | Radios
(Various)
Inspired by John Cage’s tape and radio works such as Fontana Mix, Williams Mix, and others, there will be various pre-recorded announcements, spoken word, musical excerpts and noise broadcasted over speakers throughout the space.
If you are interested in contributing to this sound design, please indicate so in the Performer/Volunteer Form.