New Music Forum: Instrumental theatre

The concert titled Instrumental Theatre draws from John Cage’s concept of musical performance as a performative act—a notion that Mauricio Kagel further developed and established as a form of musical theatre during the 1960s and 1970s. The programme features works by composers who explore the intersection of music and theatre from various perspectives: from Cage’s early experiments in extended interpretation (such as Wonderful Widow of Eighteen Springs and Aria) to conceptually driven pieces by Cathy Berberian, Vinko Globokar, and Mauricio Kagel, in which the performer assumes an active, performative role as a co-creator of the stage action.

Within this framework, the programme also includes works by Primož Ramovš, who adapts the ideas of instrumental theatre into his distinctive sonic and structural language, and Petra Strahovnik, who subtly continues this tradition, situating it firmly within a contemporary context.

Programme: 
John Cage, Cheap Imitations I
Cathy Berberian, Stripsody
John Cage, The wonderful widow of eighteen springs
John Cage, Aria
Vinko Globokar, Metamorphosis
Mauricio Kagel, Match
Primož Ramovš, Pentektasis
Primož Ramovš, (Ne)-simetrija
Petra Strahovnik, 4’44’’
Performed by members of the New Music Forum Ensemble.

Co-produced by Društvo UHO (New Music Forum) and Cankarjev dom. 

New Music Forum 2025 Festival: An Open Cage 
Featured Composer: John Cage 
11–26 November, various venues 
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