ENCOUNTER:MERCE Vexations

Stanford faculty and students take on Erik Satie's Vexations, a short piano piece to be played 840 times. In 1963, John Cage organized a 19-hour performance and recruited a rotating squad of pianists. Afterwards, Cage went home and slept. "...when I woke up, I felt different than I had ever felt before...I had changed and the world had changed," he said, adding that other people had the same experience. Stanford's Music Department has organized a 24-hour Vexations in White Plaza with alternating pianists. The conclusion of the work leads directly into White Plaza Event #1.

This is event is part of Encounter:Merce, Stanford's campus-wide interdisciplinary exploration through the arts, focusing on the life and art of Merce Cunningham, legendary choreographer, dance innovator, and artistic thinker.