John Cage’s Song Books at the RNCM

The Royal Northern College of Music will host a concert exploring short pieces by avant-garde composer John Cage (pictured) on Wednesday. Following a 1970 commission, the American musician produced 90 diverse works, spanning 317 pages of manuscript, that fuse music, theatre and electronics – which three artists with a connection to Cage will re-enact in the RNCM’s Concert Hall. Loré Lixenberg has performed and directed a stage interpretation of Cage’s vocal piece Aria among others, while Gregory Rose was the director of CAGE at 70 for the Almeida Festival and interviewer of Cage for Peter Greenaway’s film on the composer. Robert Worby, meanwhile, worked with Cage at the 1989 Huddersfield Festival on Roaratorio and made realisations of Cage works including the first radio performance of 4’33’’ – his silent work. This is a chance to catch rarely performed pieces by the American master.

Wed 13 Mar, RNCM, 124 Oxford Road, M13 9RD, Tel: 0161 907 5200, 7.30pm, £12.50, www.rncm.ac.uk