John Adams

b. 1947

Snapshot

John Adams has harnessed the rhythmic energy of Minimalism to the harmonies and orchestral colours of late-Romanticism * Brought contemporary history to the opera house with his post-modern music-theatre works Nixon in China (1987), The Death of Klinghoffer (1991), and Doctor Atomic (2005) * Has addressed urgent social issues with passion and empathy, both in his operas and in such works as I Was Looking at the Ceiling and then I Saw the Sky, El Dorado and The Wound-Dresser * His works are much favoured by choreographers, with multiple ballet versions of Fearful Symmetries * Winner of the 1995 Grawemeyer Award for Violin Concerto * Series of recordings on the Nonesuch label * A recent survey shows him to be the most frequently performed living American composer of orchestral music.

Works by John Adams include:
Short Ride in a Fast Machine (1986) for orchestra
Violin Concerto (1993)
El Niño (1999-2000) for soprano, mezzo-soprano, baritone, three counter-tenors, chorus, optional childrens' chorus and orchestra.
City Noir (2009) for orchestra

John Adams is represented as a conductor in North America by Ed Yim of IMG Artists and in Europe by Jane Brown of Harrison Parrott

Also visit the John Adams website at www.earbox.com

Looking ahead:
The San Francisco Symphony will perform the world premiere of Absolute Jest in March 2012 as part of its 100th anniversary season. The work will also be performed at New York's Carnegie Hall later that month.

The latest large-scale work by John Adams, created during his tenure as Creative Chair of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, is a new full-evening oratorio titled The Gospel According to the Other Mary. A concert-version will be premiered May 31, 2012 at the Los Angeles Philharmonic, followed by a staged version in Spring 2013 during an international tour.

"Whenever serious art loses track of its roots in the vernacular, then it begins to atrophy." — John Adams