Composer, author, and philosopher, JOHN CAGE was born in Los Angeles in 1912 and by the age of 37 had been recognized by the American Academy of Arts and Letters for having extended the boundaries of music. Cage composed hundreds of works in his career, many depending on chance procedures for their structure and performance. His books include Silence(1961), A Year from Monday(1967), M(1973), Empty woods(1979), X(1983), MUSICAGE(1996), and I-VI(1997). John Cage died in 1992 at the age of 79.