Bayreuth Festival derided for his 1956 production of "Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg." Stripped of its pageantry, conservatives viewed the breaking of this "sacred German tradition" as an outrage. Wieland defended the changes as an attempt to create an "invisible stage" that would allow the audience to experience the full psychosocial aspects of the drama without the baggage and distraction of elaborate set designs. Others have speculated that by stripping Wagner's works of their Germanic and historic elements, Wieland was attempting to distance Bayreuth from its nationalistic past and create productions with universal appeal. Over time, many critics came to appreciate the unique
Annual Avant Garde Festival of New York music scene that was emerging out of Fluxus. The inaugural festival was at Judson Hall and featured 28 composers which included John Cage and Morton Feldman. Notable performers at the Avant Garde Festival of New York included Charlotte Moorman, John Cage, Yoko Ono, Carolee Schneeman, Robert Delford Brown, John Lennon, Alison Knowles, Nam June Paik, Morton Feldman, Dick Higgins, Ray Johnson, Richard Kostelanetz, Bill Fontana, amongst others. Annual Avant Garde Festival of New York The Annual Avant Garde Festival of New York was an annual event that began in 1963 as an open forum for the emerging experimental music scene