Description:  At the forefront of the avant-garde for over six decades, the music of the American composer John Cage (1912-1992) has had a huge impact on late-20th/21st century aesthetics. This lecture will explore Cage`s life, work and influence on music, poetry, art and culture, and will examine the many profound challenges it raises to our conventional understanding of the arts in contemporary society.

David Lesser studied the piano at the Royal College of Music in London and then the music composition at the University of Huddersfield. He was Senior Teaching Fellow in Music and Open Studies Certificate Co-coordinator at the University of Warwick (1993-2007). His music has been widely performed in Britain and Europe by Ensemble Aleph, Accroche Note, Linda Hirst, Ian Pace and others. As a performer he specializes in the music of the Twentieth century, vocal repertoire, and has given a number of world and British premieres. He is active as a composer, performer, lecturer and teacher.