Our group of about twenty-five or so were joined by another twenty-five or thirty
folks as the performance began. All of us seated were on the floor of a second floor room
in an old building. It was a small venue and the orchestra, rather more of an ensemble,
consisted of maybe five or six players. I had no idea where I was or what to expect.
What I heard that evening was like nothing I’d ever heard before. Absolutely nothing.
The piano was retro-fitted with cans, wood blocks and other assorted noise-making items
for the hammers to hit. I’m not even sure what they did with the percussion instruments.
At one point, the music stopped and Tilson Thomas went over and opened a window.
The sounds of New York City rushed in. It was part of the composition. The whole expe-
rience was weird in a strange, yet exhilarating way.
There was a gentleman seated crossed-legged in the row in front of me. He was in his
late sixties, I’d say. He had long white hair and a rather bushy white beard. He looked
something like Santa Claus in denim. Tilson Thomas introduced him as the composer. I
was stunned. Apparently, so was Cage, because he appeared rather ... er ... “happy,” in a
glazed kind of way.
The point of this little anecdote is to keep your eyes open and your ears open even
more. There are things around us that will enhance our musical education and provide in-
spiration. It might be a sound, a piece of art or architecture or a conversation. Not all mu-
sic is about the topics usually found in the Top 40. Music is about enjoying melodies but
also about making us think.
Chicago-based singer and songwriter, Anna Fermin, took a bit of a hybrid approach to
learning music. “I took formal piano and violin lessons throughout grade school and ju-
nior high and sung in the concert and show choirs in high school,” said Fermin. She