I can’t believe they let me…

In 2017 I pulled off one of my all time favorite happenings: Untouchable Numbers. All nine then-existing Ace Hotel locations let me broadcast a 24-hour John Cage playlist in their lobbies, in partnership with Mode Records and the John Cage Trust.

216 total hours of Cage:

Chicago
London
Los Angeles
New Orleans
New York City
Palm Springs
Pittsburgh
Portland
Seattle

Original Promo Copy

“In 1952 a composer called John Cage told us there was music in silence, and the world hasn't been the same since. Today, the gradual wearing away of stone by water, the echoes of gravitational waves, and the caloric metamorphosis of food into energy may all be understood as musical works, a privilege for which we are indebted to Cage.

September 5, 2017 would have been Cage's 105th birthday, and to commemorate and honor our favorite sonic philosopher, Ace Hotel and the John Cage Trust, in partnership with Mode Records, present Untouchable Numbers, a 24-hour listening event beginning at 12am. Cage's sounds, and silences, will play throughout public spaces of all nine Ace Hotels as the earth completes one full rotation, freely and open to the public. In New Orleans, you can hear the tunes playing back in our Lobby.

Learn more about where to hear Cage across our properties here, and consider booking a room with the promo code SILENCE, valid for stays from 9/4-9/6. RSVP suggested but not required. Seating in public spaces is first come, serve.

Listening is a radical act.”