Percussionist Matt Kocmieroski: Keeping the Cage Legacy at Cornish

Dave Beck
03/28/2009

The late avant garde composer John Cage devoted his life to breaking down musical barriers. One of his most famous compositions was "4 minutes, 33 seconds." The piece featured a pianist sitting silently in front of a keyboard for four minutes and 33 seconds, not playing a sound. Through pieces like this Cage satirized old musical rituals. He also taught his students and audiences that music can be made in unusual surroundings using unlikely instruments. Coffee cans, rocks and old car parts became musical instruments through Cage's imagination. Many of Cage's innovations took place in Seattle during the depression years of the 1930s. KUOW's Dave Beck spoke with Seattle percussionist Matt Kocmieroski. Matt worked alongside John Cage beginning in the early 1980s. In his work as a current teacher and percussionist at Cornish College of the Arts, Matt keeps the Cage tradition alive.