The sounds of John Cage rang out of the Urban Arts Space on Thursday. For the first time at Ohio State, the OSU Percussion Ensemble presented “A John Cage MUSICIRCUS.”

John Cage was a modernist composer and one of the leaders of the avant-garde movement in the 20th century, which promoted experimentation and explored new performance techniques. He is known for his work with prepared piano and chance music, a genre that leaves elements of the music open to the interpretation of the performers.

In 1952, Cage’s piece “4’33″” damaged his reputation — the piece was four minutes and 33 seconds of silence.

He continued to produce avant-garde music and branched out into opera and film before his death. Cage repaired his reputation, and his chance music influenced other contemporaries like Pierre Boulez and Karlheinz Stockhausen.

His music influenced OSU students, too. Drums, bells and kazoos banged, chimed and buzzed at the start of the MUSICIRCUS, harking back to Cage’s work and the avant-garde movement. Paper littered the floor near each station, the name of the piece printed on them.

The performers played on the floor without separation from the crowd. The pieces were performed in separate areas, but the sounds of each performance overlapped.

Susan Powell, associate professor and director of Percussion Studies, thought the overlapping music created an immersive environment. She said it let people browse the music similar to the way one would browse art.

The performances were accompanied by paintings and other visual art courtesy of the “Masters of Fine Arts: Thesis Exhibition.”

“The MFA show from Ohio State happened to be happening here so we were able to use the space on top of their show,” Powell said. “It just added, I think, to the whole event.”

The format of the show provided a different experience for the performers.

“It was cool to be able to interact with the audience a little bit and for the audience to interact not only with the music but the other art,” said Carson Moody, a member of the Percussion Ensemble.

Matt Evans, another member of the ensemble, said a gallery setting was different than normal but added, “The overlapping thing was totally new. That was really cool.”

The concert succeeded in impressing one audience member.

“I think it’s great,” said Robert Lunn, a graduate teaching associate for the School of Music. “The atmosphere, the art and the music — just great.”

Moody performed Cage’s “Composed Improvisation for Snare.” The only performance with a single instrument, the improvisation displayed technique and chance.

A composed improvisation meant Moody had a choice in certain aspects of the performance. The rest was dictated by “chance operations.”

“The mallets, I picked what they were going to be but not which ones I would have to use for certain segments,” Moody said. “It was a lot of coin-flipping and a lot of pulling things out of a hat.”

Cage’s “Third Construction” finished the show. Evans played alongside three other people as he performed this lengthy piece, sweating in his formal wear by the end.

The other music had ceased and with the final applause, the event ended as abruptly as it began.

Friends and relatives crowded around the performers. Audience members filed out of the space. Those involved began to clean up.

Powell said she was pleased with the product and hoped to do it again.

“I need a couple of years to relax and try to figure out how to do it again,” she said with a laugh. “But it was definitely worth the time and effort.”