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Past events | Upcoming events
Columbia, SC - Inuksuit: University of South Carolina
2025/03/29

A multitude of percussionists (or as close as we can get!) help close the School of Music’s 100th anniversary season outdoors on the Horseshoe.

Adams’ monumental Inuksuit, intended to be performed and experienced outdoors, creates an enormous sonic landscape, both intimate and overpowering, that is unique to each performance and performance site. In Inuksuit, inspired and shaped by the stone sentinels constructed over centuries by the Inuit people as waypoints in the expanse of the Arctic, the listener is free to shape their own experience: audience members may bring a blanket, a lawn chair or wander throughout the performance area.

Co-produced by Boston-based percussionist Maria Finkelmeier, professor Scott Herring & the USC percussion studio and Southern Exposure.

Buffalo Chamber Players, NY - Darkness and Scattered Light: Buffalo Chamber Players
2025/03/19

John Luther Adams Darkness and Scattered Light
Vivian Fung The Ice Is Talking
Anna Thorvaldsdottir Shades of Silence
Jan Dismas Zelenka Trio Sonata No. 6 in c minor, ZWV 181

Doors open at 7pm, music at 7:30PM.

Charlotte, NC - Become Ocean: Charlotte Symphony Orchestra
2025/03/01

Dive into the world of John Luther Adams's Pulitzer Prize-winning Become Ocean as the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra transforms Blume Studios into an immersive soundscape with a live performance of the work, inspired by the stunning waters of the Pacific Northwest.

Featuring dynamic light projections and a 360° spatial audio experience, this multi-sensory event invites a profound meditation on the beauty and fragility of the natural world, continuing through self-guided explorations of GAIA, a breathtaking three-dimensional display of Earth, and Groundswell, an interactive installation that prompts reflection on humanity's relationship with the planet and one another.

Courtney Lewisconductor

Charlotte, NC - Become Ocean: Charlotte Symphony Orchestra
2025/03/01

Dive into the world of John Luther Adams's Pulitzer Prize-winning Become Ocean as the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra transforms Blume Studios into an immersive soundscape with a live performance of the work, inspired by the stunning waters of the Pacific Northwest.

Featuring dynamic light projections and a 360° spatial audio experience, this multi-sensory event invites a profound meditation on the beauty and fragility of the natural world, continuing through self-guided explorations of GAIA, a breathtaking three-dimensional display of Earth, and Groundswell, an interactive installation that prompts reflection on humanity's relationship with the planet and one another.

Courtney Lewisconductor

Charlotte, NC - Become Ocean: Charlotte Symphony Orchestra
2025/02/28

Dive into the world of John Luther Adams's Pulitzer Prize-winning Become Ocean as the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra transforms Blume Studios into an immersive soundscape with a live performance of the work, inspired by the stunning waters of the Pacific Northwest.

Featuring dynamic light projections and a 360° spatial audio experience, this multi-sensory event invites a profound meditation on the beauty and fragility of the natural world, continuing through self-guided explorations of GAIA, a breathtaking three-dimensional display of Earth, and Groundswell, an interactive installation that prompts reflection on humanity's relationship with the planet and one another.

Courtney Lewisconductor

New York, NY - A Brief Descent into Deep Time: Theatre of Voices
2025/02/25

Embodying “undivided devotion to the musical material,” the Grammy Award–winning vocal ensemble Theatre of Voices is a go-to collaborator for many of today’s most visionary composers. In Zankel Hall alone, they have premiered new works by such artists as Arvo Pärt, David Lang, and Ingram Marshall. In this performance—in the intimate, in-the-round Zankel Hall Center Stage configuration—they sing a world premiere by the category-defying Julia Wolfe, a US premiere by John Luther Adams that takes listeners on a journey through the geological layers of the Grand Canyon, and a recent work by Michael Gordon that combines playfully direct lyrics with sumptuously scored singing.

 

MICHAEL GORDON A Western

JULIA WOLFE New Work (US Premiere, co-commissioned by Carnegie Hall)

JOHN LUTHER ADAMS A Brief Descent into Deep Time (US Premiere, co-commissioned by Carnegie Hall)

Oak Ridge, TN - Become River: Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra
2025/02/15

Join us for an enchanting evening with "Water Chants and Love," featuring music that explores the connections between nature and emotion. The concert begins with Thomas Adès's "Shanty – Over the Sea," a modern take on traditional sea shanties, followed by John Luther Adams's serene "Become River," which evokes the journey of water from stream to river. After intermission, enjoy Sergei Rachmaninoff's lush and virtuosic Piano Concerto No.2 in C minor, Op.18. The evening concludes with Inocente Carreño's "Glosa Sinfónica 'Margariteña'," a vibrant tribute to Venezuela's Margarita Island, rich with folk elements and colorful orchestration.

Thomas Adès (b. 1971) Shanty – Over the Sea (2020)

Thomas Adès, one of the most prominent contemporary composers, premiered "Shanty – Over the Sea" in 2020. This work is inspired by traditional sea shanties, reimagined through Adès's innovative and modern musical language. The piece captures the essence of the sea through its rhythmic vitality and evocative melodies, painting a vivid sonic picture of maritime life. Adès's skillful orchestration and imaginative use of harmony and texture create a compelling narrative that is both haunting and exhilarating, reflecting the timeless allure and peril of the ocean.

John Luther Adams (b. 1953) Become River (2010; rev. 2015)

John Luther Adams, a Pulitzer Prize-winning composer known for his environmental themes, composed "Become River" in 2010, later revising it in 2015. This meditative and immersive work is part of Adams's larger series exploring water in its various forms. "Become River" traces a journey from a small stream to a vast, flowing river, using minimalistic techniques to create a sense of organic growth and transformation. The music unfolds gradually, with delicate textures and shimmering sonorities that evoke the natural beauty and power of a river. Adams's work invites listeners to reflect on the interconnectedness of nature and music.

Intermission

Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943) Piano Concerto No.2 in C minor, Op.18 (1900–1901)

Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No.2 in C minor, Op.18, is one of the most beloved works in the piano repertoire. Composed between 1900 and 1901, this concerto marks Rachmaninoff's triumphant return to composition after a period of depression. The piece is celebrated for its lush Romantic melodies, virtuosic piano writing, and rich orchestration. The first movement features a dramatic opening followed by a lyrical second theme, the second movement is known for its hauntingly beautiful melodies, and the finale is a brilliant and energetic display of technical prowess and emotional depth. This concerto remains a favorite for its emotional intensity and technical challenges.

Inocente Carreño (1913-1976) Glosa Sinfónica “Margariteña” (1954)

Inocente Carreño, a distinguished Venezuelan composer, wrote "Glosa Sinfónica ‘Margariteña’" in 1954. This symphonic poem is a tribute to Carreño's birthplace, the island of Margarita. The piece is infused with elements of Venezuelan folk music, reflecting the cultural heritage and natural beauty of the island. Carreño's use of vibrant rhythms, colorful orchestration, and evocative melodies creates a vivid and dynamic musical portrait. "Margariteña" is celebrated for its ability to convey a strong sense of place and identity, making it a significant work in the Latin American orchestral repertoire.

Tallinn, Estonia - Become Desert: ERSO and the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir
2025/02/15

PROGRAMME

John Luther Adams
Become Desert

Steve Reich
The Desert Music


In February, the orchestra will join the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir for a performance at Teras Beach, a beach sports and leisure centre in Tallinn. In deep winter, audiences can step onto white sands in 26-degree heat and enjoy minimalist atmospheric desert music composed by Steve Reich and John Luther Adams.

Concert organiser ERSO

Tallinn, Estonia - Become Desert: ERSO and the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir
2025/02/14

PROGRAMME

John Luther Adams
Become Desert

Steve Reich
The Desert Music


In February, the orchestra will join the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir for a performance at Teras Beach, a beach sports and leisure centre in Tallinn. In deep winter, audiences can step onto white sands in 26-degree heat and enjoy minimalist atmospheric desert music composed by Steve Reich and John Luther Adams.

Concert organiser ERSO

Santa Fe, NM - Three High Places: Chatter North
2025/02/08

John Luther Adams Three High Places
Evan Daitz
 A Balloon’s Breath
Béla Bartók Divertimento

Ruxandra Marquardt, Megan Holland, Natalie Frantz, Ana Maria Quintero, Carla Kountoupes, Lidija Peno-Kelly, Laura Steiner violin
Kim Fredenburgh, Laura Chang, Allie Norris 
viola
Amy Huzjak, Joel Becktell, Ian Brody, Evan Daitz 
cello
Sam Brown, Zachary Bush 
bass
David Felberg 
conductor

Jessica Helen Lopez spoken word

Santa Fe, NM - In a Treeless Place, Only Snow: Chatter North
2025/01/04

John Luther Adams In a Treeless Place, Only Snow
Philip Glass 
Piano Quintet no. 1 “Annunciation”

David Felberg, Ruxandra Marquardt violin
Laura Steiner viola
Dana Winograd cello
Luke Gullickson piano
Anna Hamrick harp
Jeff Cornelius, Diana Sharpe vibraphones

Malena Morling spoken word

Iowa City, IA - Lines Made by Walking: JACK Quartet
2024/12/04

Part of Hancher's 52nd Season

Presented in collaboration with the University of Iowa String Quartet Residency Program and Center for New Music

The venturous quartet follows up last year’s John Zorn concert with music by John Luther Adams and Elliott Carter.

The members of JACK Quartet—champions of contemporary music and musicians of prodigious talent—return to play compositions by two towering giants. John Luther Adams—whose work Inuksuit is central to Steve Schick’s October residency—invites listeners to slow down and share a specific time and space together. Meanwhile, Elliott Carter’s fifth quartet opens a window on the compositional process.

“It's hard to think of another string quartet that plays ... ferociously contemporary repertoire with their impeccable precision.” — San Francisco Classical Voice

 

PROGRAM:
John Luther ADAMS: Lines Made by Walking
Elliott CARTER: String Quartet No. 5 (1995)

Philadelphia, PA - The Wind in High Places: Parker Quartet
2024/11/20

About This Performance

Following her thrilling 2023 recital debut with pianist Julius Drake, Singaporean-British mezzo Fleur Barron returns to PCMS with the “fearless, yet probingly beautiful” (The Strad) Parker Quartet. Their collaboration includes the premiere of a new song cycle for string quartet and voice by Anthony Cheung (co-commissioned by PCMS), as well as arrangements of Brahms’s and Mahler’s songs, and John Luther Adams’s stunningly serene The Wind in High Places.

 

BrahmsIm Herbst from Fünf Gesänge, Op. 104 (Arr. Parker Quartet)
J. L. AdamsThe Wind in High Places
CheungThe Field Remembers  Philadelphia Premiere/PCMS Co-Commission
MahlerDer Einsame im Herbst from Das Lied von der Erde (Arr. Cheung)
Brahms: String Quartet in B-flat Major, Op. 67

Running time: 1 hour and 45 minutes (including intermission)

Los Angeles, CA - Dark Waves and Canticles of the Sky: LA Phil's Noon to Midnight
2024/11/16

Field Recordings

A DAY OF NEW MUSIC
Art Installations, Deep Listening, Food Trucks, Beer Garden, and more!

The line-up includes performances of Dark Waves (Vicki Ray) and Canticles of the Sky (Calder Quartet).

The LA Phil's new-music marathon includes 12 hours of live performances and art installations in every corner of Walt Disney Concert Hall. This year's festival, curated by Pulitzer-prize winning composer Ellen Reid, explores the intersections of art, technology, and nature through the theme of field recordings, the act of capturing audio in natural or built environments outside of a studio setting. Noon to Midnight: Field Recordings is an invitation to experience how sound changes us by participating in deeper forms of listening.

St. Louis, MO - The Wind in High Places: Live at the Pulitzer
2024/11/12

Live at the Pulitzer
Outside In

Description

Kaija Saariaho Six Japanese Gardens
John Luther Adams Selections from The Wind in High Places
Samuel Adams Sundial

? This concert takes place at the Pulitzer Arts Foundation

Strings and percussion unite to bring the outside world into the Pulitzer Arts Foundation galleries. Kaija Saariaho invokes the Japanese gardens of Kyoto with field recordings of nature and ritual singing. Windy, high-altitude string harmonics soar in music by John Luther Adams, and Samuel Adams’ new quintet for strings and percussion radiates with light and shadow.
 
A few things to know:
  • This program was principally inspired by the Scott Burton: Shape Shift exhibition at the Pulitzer Arts Foundation, on view from September 6, 2024, to February 2, 2025.
  • The Live at the Pulitzer series began in spring 2004 and celebrates conversation between visual art and music, elevating the voices of today’s composers. Since the series’ inception, music by more than 80 composers have been introduced to St. Louis audiences for the first time.
  • The Pulitzer Arts Foundation presents the art of today and works from the past within a global context. Its home is an architectural landmark designed by celebrated architect Tadao Ando.
Fitzroy, VIC - 4,000 Holes: Astra Music
2024/11/09
Nothing Is Real
novemberfest 3

Alexander Meagher, Percussion
Liam Wooding, Piano

Program:
John Luther Adams  4,000 HOLES
Alvin Lucier  NOTHING IS REAL
Thierry de Mey  SILENCE MUST BE

A multi-sensory presentation for percussion and piano, accompanied by surround-sound technology and coloured light auras. The compositions draw inspiration from the Beatles' psychedelic music of the 1960s, with 4,000 Holes based on  "A Day in the Life" and Nothing Is Real on "Strawberry Fields Forever".

Anchorage, Alaska - An Atlas of Deep Time: Anchorage Symphony Orchestra
2024/11/02

RANDALL CRAIG FLEISCHER -
Athabaskan Prayer Song from Echoes
JOHN LUTHER ADAMS - An Atlas of Deep Time
BEETHOVEN - Symphony No. 6

  • The piece ASO Music Director in Memoriam called "One of the highlights of my tenure (and life)," Randy's Echoes features Alaska Native and Native American indigenous music, including an Athabaskan Prayer Song.

  • John Luther Adams paints a mesmerizing sonic landscape of the vast expanse of geological time, evoking a sense of awe and wonder through its gradual shifts and resonant textures.

  • Beethoven's "Pastoral Symphony" evokes nature's beauty and tranquility and the joyfulness and energy it summons within us.

Ivins, UT - Music by John Luther Adams: Crossing Open Ground Collective
2024/11/02

Music by John Luther Adams, Christopher Rountree, Nathalie Joachim, CJ Camerieri, Trever Hagen, and Vicky Chow

Produced by Liquid Music

On October 25, 2025, conductor Christopher Rountree known for his “elegant clarity” (New York Times), prestigious French choreographer Dimitri Chamblas, and powerhouse section leaders Sidney Hopson (percussion), Nathalie Joachim (winds), C.J. Camerieri and Trever Hagen (brass) will guide an acoustic ensemble of 36 local musicians in an ultimate rendering of Pulitzer Prize-winning environmentalist composer John Luther Adams’s Crossing Open Ground in the majestic setting of Southern Utah (site to be announced).

Ahead of this singular experience, producer Liquid Music introduces the artistic team to the Kayenta community with works by the Crossing Open Ground musicians, special guest Vicky Chow, and John Luther Adams—hosted by Rountree. Liquid Music artistic director Kate Nordstrum will share insights on the development of Crossing Open Ground for the uniquely inspiring environment of southwestern Utah.

Vienna, Austria - Become Ocean: ORF RSO
2024/10/30
Nina Šenk: Flux 2024 (2021)
Triple Concerto for horn, trumpet, accordion and string orchestra
 
Iannis Xenakis: Terretektorh (1965-1966)
for 88 musicians distributed in the audience
 
John Luther Adams: Become Ocean (2013)
for large orchestra in three spatially separated groups
 
Antwerp, Belgium - Become River and Become Desert: NFM Wroclaw Philharmonic and the NFM Choir
2024/10/19

NFM Wroclaw Philharmonic and the NFM Choir plunge into two parts of John Luther Adams' Become cycle. The choir and orchestra of the National Forum of Music in Wroclaw, Poland, present these works as a special immersive experience. DE SINGEL’s Blue Hall will be fitted with three additional stages. On them, the choir and the orchestra will surround the audience. In the midst of the sound that will be coming at you from all sides, you will experience Adams’ music even more intensely, and it will literally become a living landscape. Exactly as Adams intended. After all, in most of his works the American composer transforms the landscape into sound, structure and music. Adams wrote Become Desert for choir and orchestra after leaving Alaska for the solitude of the Sonoran Desert in Mexico.
 

Brugge, Belgium—Become ocean (Belgian Premiere)
2023/03/17

Kris Defoort, Human voices only (Belgian premiere)

Ludwig van Beethoven, Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 61

John Luther Adams, Become ocean (Belgian premiere)

Human voices only, written in 2014, is the first orchestral work by Belgian composer and avant-garde jazz pianist Kris Defoort. He found his inspiration for this piece in Morocco: “I was on a flat roof during Ramadan and everywhere I heard these chants, infinite melodies that consist of only a few notes but with immeasurable variations. Voices that never stop.” With many references to early-twentieth-century composers such as Debussy, Ravel, Satie and Stravinsky, Kris Defoort lets the instruments of the orchestra play through the various facets of the human voice, returning to a never-ending Arabic melody.

Four soft timpani beats open Beethoven’s only Violin Concerto. According to some, the recurring timpani motif in the first movement reflects the euphoric mood that prevailed during the French Revolution. Major upheavals were in store and anything seemed possible. The premiere of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto was only a moderate success because the score was completed much too late and the soloist had to sight-read parts during the concert. Years after Beethoven’s death, however, the Violin Concerto was resurrected by Mendelssohn and began its triumphant march through European concert halls.

The Belgian National Orchestra goes on to dive deep below the water’s surface with the composition Become ocean by John Luther Adams. The New Yorker described this work as “the most beautiful apocalypse in the history of music”. Become ocean is part of a cycle that John Luther Adams composed, based on the four elements. He believes that humanity is able to transcend the isolation and cynicism of modern society by seeking contact with something greater than itself. The piece was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in 2014. The performance represents a world premiere, as the music is accompanied by a film by video artist Lillevan.

Joshua Weilerstein, conductor
Josef Špaček, violin
Lillevan, video
Evanston, IL—The Music of John Luther Adams
2023/02/25
The music of Pulitzer Prize winner John Luther Adams exploring the connection between people and nature.

If we can imagine a culture and a society in which we each feel more deeply responsible for our own place in the world, then we just may be able to bring that culture and that society into being.

- John Luther Adams

The EcoVoice Project is excited to share the music of John Luther Adams, 2013 Pulitzer Prize Winner and “reining musical ambassador for the natural world” (The New York Times). Along with opening remarks by the composer, the New Earth Ensemble will be joined by Beyond This Point to present a program featuring Adams’s choral work Night Peace, as well as chamber works for piano, harp, voice, and percussion. WFMT Music Director, Oliver Camacho will read poetry of John Haines, lifelong inspiration for Adams and librettist for his new opera Night, premiering at Lyric Opera this spring.
Baltimore, MD—Become Ocean
2023/02/05
Repertoire
JOHN LUTHER ADAMS Become Ocean
DVOŘÁK Cello Concerto

Artists
Kwamé Ryan, conductor
Pablo Ferrández, cello

The sensitive and charismatic young Spaniard Pablo Ferrández brings out all the passion and earthy folk music embedded within Dvořák’s Cello Concerto, a crown jewel of the solo repertoire. Kwamé Ryan conducts with the broad perspective of a true world citizen, from his Trinidadian and Canadian roots to his extensive training and experience in the United Kingdom and Europe. He turns his keen gaze to Become Ocean, a once-in-a-generation masterpiece of swelling waves and rapturous immersion that earned John Luther Adams a Pulitzer Prize and Grammy® Award.

Baltimore, MD—Become Ocean
2023/02/04
Repertoire
JOHN LUTHER ADAMS Become Ocean
DVOŘÁK Cello Concerto

Artists
Kwamé Ryan, conductor
Pablo Ferrández, cello

The sensitive and charismatic young Spaniard Pablo Ferrández brings out all the passion and earthy folk music embedded within Dvořák’s Cello Concerto, a crown jewel of the solo repertoire. Kwamé Ryan conducts with the broad perspective of a true world citizen, from his Trinidadian and Canadian roots to his extensive training and experience in the United Kingdom and Europe. He turns his keen gaze to Become Ocean, a once-in-a-generation masterpiece of swelling waves and rapturous immersion that earned John Luther Adams a Pulitzer Prize and Grammy® Award.

Virtual—John Luther Adams in conversation with Alex Ross
2023/02/03
Registration required

The Great Northern Festival

“Reigning musical ambassador of the natural world” (The New York Times) John Luther Adams joins The New Yorker’s music critic Alex Ross (The Rest is Noise) for a conversation on environmentalism, JLA’s illuminating memoir Silences So Deep, experiences in deep winter, and Ten Thousand Birds, to be performed by Alarm Will Sound at Minneapolis Institute of Art on the final day of the festival.

About John Luther Adams

For John Luther Adams, music is a lifelong search for home—an invitation to slow down, pay attention, and remember our place within the larger community of life on Earth.

Living for almost 40 years in northern Alaska, JLA discovered a unique musical world grounded in space, stillness, and elemental forces. In the 1970s and into the 80s, he worked full time as an environmental activist. But the time came when he felt compelled to dedicate himself entirely to music. He made this choice with the belief that, ultimately, music can do more than politics to change the world. Since that time, he has become one of the most widely admired composers in the world, receiving the Pulitzer Prize, a Grammy Award, and many other honors.

In works such as Become Ocean, In the White Silence, and Canticles of the Holy Wind, Adams brings the sense of wonder that we feel outdoors into the concert hall. And in outdoor works such as Inuksuit and Sila: The Breath of the World, he employs music as a way to reclaim our connections with place, wherever we may be.

A deep concern for the state of the earth and the future of humanity drives Adams to continue composing. As he puts it: “If we can imagine a culture and a society in which we each feel more deeply responsible for our own place in the world, then we just may be able to bring that culture and that society into being.”

Since leaving Alaska, JLA and his wife Cynthia have made their home in the deserts of Mexico, Chile, and the southwestern United States.

About Alex Ross

Alex Ross has been the music critic of The New Yorker since 1996. He is the author of the books The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century, Listen to This, and Wagnerism: Art and Politics in the Shadow of Music.
Baltimore, MD—Become Ocean
2023/02/02
Repertoire
JOHN LUTHER ADAMS Become Ocean
DVOŘÁK Cello Concerto

Artists
Kwamé Ryan, conductor
Pablo Ferrández, cello

The sensitive and charismatic young Spaniard Pablo Ferrández brings out all the passion and earthy folk music embedded within Dvořák’s Cello Concerto, a crown jewel of the solo repertoire. Kwamé Ryan conducts with the broad perspective of a true world citizen, from his Trinidadian and Canadian roots to his extensive training and experience in the United Kingdom and Europe. He turns his keen gaze to Become Ocean, a once-in-a-generation masterpiece of swelling waves and rapturous immersion that earned John Luther Adams a Pulitzer Prize and Grammy® Award.

Boston, MA—Strange Birds Passing
2022/11/10
Sometimes throwing together a meal of one’s favorite dishes is the most satisfying – nothing ties it together, each dish stands deliciously alone. This program puts together music that has been played often here at NEC bringing great reward to the musicians and enjoyment to the audience. Two French favorites – Baroque dance delights from the court of Louis the 14th (coached by Handel and Haydn’s world-renowned oboist Debra Nagy) is followed by a brass tour de force: Tomasi’s passionate and reverent Fanfares. John Luther Adams' work for massed flutes was recorded to great acclaim by NEC’s Callithumpian Consort and is coached here by NEC’s own John Heiss. Michael Tippet broke new formal and rhythmic ground with jewelry Mosaic, the first movement of his Concerto for Orchestra. New England itself claims America’s most important composer – Charles Ives. His Decoration Day is a musical collage drawn from childhood memories of Memorial Day – the civil war veterans on parade, the horse carts, the fire wagons and of course, the marches played with more passion than accuracy by the village band. This was the piece that caused Stravinsky to say “There is a great man living in this country – a composer...and his name is Ives”
-- Charles Peltz

CONDUCTORS
Charles Peltz
Jean Baptiste Lully/François-André Philidor | Musique pour les douze oboi
Henri Tomasi | Fanfares liturgiques
Annonciation
Evangile
Apocalypse (Scherzo)
Procession du Vendredi-saint

John Luther Adams | Strange Birds Passing
Michael Tippett | Mosaics (from Concerto for Orchestra)
Charles Ives (transcr. James Sinclair) | Decoration Day, from "Holidays" Symphony, and Charlie Rutlage
Boston, MA—Liz Gerring Dance Company with the JACK Quartet: Harbor
2022/10/22
The New York-based Liz Gerring Dance Company debuts “Harbor,” a world premiere evening-length performance artfully combining movement, live music, and poetic illumination. Featuring a newly commissioned string quartet by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer John Luther Adams, Gerring’s dancers are joined live onstage by the intrepid JACK Quartet.

In Harbor, Gerring’s choreographic style–muscular athleticism combined with elegant formalism–mirrors the possibilities of the string quartet: ensemble, solos, duets, trios, with the performers’ personalities as individual as the instrumental voices. The choreography embodies the tensions and harmonies of John Luther Adam’s galvanic music. Legendary designer Jennifer Tipton’s lighting adds dramatic tension and shadow, offering light as décor, architecture, and guide. The three layered narratives—sonic, luminous, and choreographic—create a singular new work not to be missed.


Harbor was developed at Summer Stages Dance @ The Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston at two residencies in 2020 and 2022. Harbor’s score, Waves & Particles, by John Luther Adams for JACK Quartet, was commissioned by Summer Stages Dance @ ICA/Boston, Liz Gerring Dance, and the Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center. The work of lighting designer Jennifer Tipton is supported by Summer Stages Dance @ ICA/Boston.
Ithaca, NY—Inuksuit
2022/10/22
Fun Outdoor Music Event for the Whole Family!

Date: Saturday Oct. 22, 2:00pm, rain date Sunday Oct. 23, 2:00pm

Location: IC Quad (between fountain and Campus Center)

Cost: FREE!

Duration: About an hour, and you can come and go as you please

Come join the Ithaca College Percussion Ensemble in an engaging, theatrical, nature-inspired performance that will take place outside, on IC’s beautiful campus! You can bring people of all ages and can stay for the full piece (will roughly last 75 minutes) or just catch an excerpt. Audience members can walk around the space, and experience the music up close.

The composition being performed is Pulitzer-prize-winning composer John Luther Adams’ Inuksuit, based on Inuit rock sculptures, and will feature the full 20-person IC Percussion Ensemble playing drums, cymbals, gongs, shakers, sheets of metal, conch shell trumpets, sirens, glockenspiels and much more. It will be an event like you’ve never experienced before (unless you’ve seen this piece before!).

Parts of this piece may get loud, so you are welcome to bring earplugs. There will also be a few hand-cranked sirens during the piece, for about 15 minutes. Don’t worry, it’s not an emergency, it’s part of the piece!

Hope to see you there!

Individuals with disabilities requiring accommodations should contact Erik Kibelsbeck at ekibelsbeck@ithaca.edu or 607-274-3717. We ask that requests for accommodations be made as soon as possible.
Boston, MA—Liz Gerring Dance Company with the JACK Quartet: Harbor
2022/10/21
The New York-based Liz Gerring Dance Company debuts “Harbor,” a world premiere evening-length performance artfully combining movement, live music, and poetic illumination. Featuring a newly commissioned string quartet by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer John Luther Adams, Gerring’s dancers are joined live onstage by the intrepid JACK Quartet.

In Harbor, Gerring’s choreographic style–muscular athleticism combined with elegant formalism–mirrors the possibilities of the string quartet: ensemble, solos, duets, trios, with the performers’ personalities as individual as the instrumental voices. The choreography embodies the tensions and harmonies of John Luther Adam’s galvanic music. Legendary designer Jennifer Tipton’s lighting adds dramatic tension and shadow, offering light as décor, architecture, and guide. The three layered narratives—sonic, luminous, and choreographic—create a singular new work not to be missed.


Harbor was developed at Summer Stages Dance @ The Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston at two residencies in 2020 and 2022. Harbor’s score, Waves & Particles, by John Luther Adams for JACK Quartet, was commissioned by Summer Stages Dance @ ICA/Boston, Liz Gerring Dance, and the Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center. The work of lighting designer Jennifer Tipton is supported by Summer Stages Dance @ ICA/Boston.
Chester, VA—String Quartet Selections
2022/10/21
Each of the following events will feature the same program by John Luther Adams. The program will last about 45 minutes and will include:

Sky with Four Suns, from Canticles of the Sky
Maclaren Summit, from The Wind in High Places
Dream of the Canyon Wren
Rising, from untouched
Sky with Nameless Colors, from Canticles of the Sky

Mark your calendars--we hope you'll come to more than one event!

Friday, October 7 @7pm
Opening Night at Artspace
2833-A Hathaway Rd., Richmond
$15
Doors open at 6:30
Get tickets
Concert Sponsor: Michael and Nancy Lott

Tuesday, October 11 @7:30pm
BYOB House Show at Minimum Wage
806 Albemarle St., Richmond
Free admission; registration required
Doors open at 7
Register
Concert Sponsor: Matt Edwards

Friday, October 14 @7pm
Reveille United Methodist Church
4200 Cary Street Rd., Richmond
Free admission; donations encouraged
Doors open at 6:30
Concert Sponsor: Reveille United Methodist Church

Saturday, October 15 @2pm
Pop-up Concert
Location will be announced a week before the event!
Free and open to the public
Concert Sponsor: Kerry Mills and Pippin Barnett

Friday, October 21 @7:30pm
Perkinson Center for the Arts & Education
11810 Centre Street, Chester
$10-20
Get tickets
Concert Sponsor: Gabriella Ryan
Richmond, VA—String Quartet Selections
2022/10/15
Each of the following events will feature the same program by John Luther Adams. The program will last about 45 minutes and will include:

Sky with Four Suns, from Canticles of the Sky
Maclaren Summit, from The Wind in High Places
Dream of the Canyon Wren
Rising, from untouched
Sky with Nameless Colors, from Canticles of the Sky

Mark your calendars--we hope you'll come to more than one event!

Friday, October 7 @7pm
Opening Night at Artspace
2833-A Hathaway Rd., Richmond
$15
Doors open at 6:30
Get tickets
Concert Sponsor: Michael and Nancy Lott

Tuesday, October 11 @7:30pm
BYOB House Show at Minimum Wage
806 Albemarle St., Richmond
Free admission; registration required
Doors open at 7
Register
Concert Sponsor: Matt Edwards

Friday, October 14 @7pm
Reveille United Methodist Church
4200 Cary Street Rd., Richmond
Free admission; donations encouraged
Doors open at 6:30
Concert Sponsor: Reveille United Methodist Church

Saturday, October 15 @2pm
Pop-up Concert
Location will be announced a week before the event!
Free and open to the public
Concert Sponsor: Kerry Mills and Pippin Barnett

Friday, October 21 @7:30pm
Perkinson Center for the Arts & Education
11810 Centre Street, Chester
$10-20
Get tickets
Concert Sponsor: Gabriella Ryan
Richmond, VA—String Quartet Selections
2022/10/14
Each of the following events will feature the same program by John Luther Adams. The program will last about 45 minutes and will include:

Sky with Four Suns, from Canticles of the Sky
Maclaren Summit, from The Wind in High Places
Dream of the Canyon Wren
Rising, from untouched
Sky with Nameless Colors, from Canticles of the Sky

Mark your calendars--we hope you'll come to more than one event!

Friday, October 7 @7pm
Opening Night at Artspace
2833-A Hathaway Rd., Richmond
$15
Doors open at 6:30
Get tickets
Concert Sponsor: Michael and Nancy Lott

Tuesday, October 11 @7:30pm
BYOB House Show at Minimum Wage
806 Albemarle St., Richmond
Free admission; registration required
Doors open at 7
Register
Concert Sponsor: Matt Edwards

Friday, October 14 @7pm
Reveille United Methodist Church
4200 Cary Street Rd., Richmond
Free admission; donations encouraged
Doors open at 6:30
Concert Sponsor: Reveille United Methodist Church

Saturday, October 15 @2pm
Pop-up Concert
Location will be announced a week before the event!
Free and open to the public
Concert Sponsor: Kerry Mills and Pippin Barnett

Friday, October 21 @7:30pm
Perkinson Center for the Arts & Education
11810 Centre Street, Chester
$10-20
Get tickets
Concert Sponsor: Gabriella Ryan
Richmond, VA—String Quartet Selections
2022/10/11
Each of the following events will feature the same program by John Luther Adams. The program will last about 45 minutes and will include:

Sky with Four Suns, from Canticles of the Sky
Maclaren Summit, from The Wind in High Places
Dream of the Canyon Wren
Rising, from untouched
Sky with Nameless Colors, from Canticles of the Sky

Mark your calendars--we hope you'll come to more than one event!

Friday, October 7 @7pm
Opening Night at Artspace
2833-A Hathaway Rd., Richmond
$15
Doors open at 6:30
Get tickets
Concert Sponsor: Michael and Nancy Lott

Tuesday, October 11 @7:30pm
BYOB House Show at Minimum Wage
806 Albemarle St., Richmond
Free admission; registration required
Doors open at 7
Register
Concert Sponsor: Matt Edwards

Friday, October 14 @7pm
Reveille United Methodist Church
4200 Cary Street Rd., Richmond
Free admission; donations encouraged
Doors open at 6:30
Concert Sponsor: Reveille United Methodist Church

Saturday, October 15 @2pm
Pop-up Concert
Location will be announced a week before the event!
Free and open to the public
Concert Sponsor: Kerry Mills and Pippin Barnett

Friday, October 21 @7:30pm
Perkinson Center for the Arts & Education
11810 Centre Street, Chester
$10-20
Get tickets
Concert Sponsor: Gabriella Ryan
Richmond, VA—String Quartet Selections
2022/10/07
Each of the following events will feature the same program by John Luther Adams. The program will last about 45 minutes and will include:

Sky with Four Suns, from Canticles of the Sky
Maclaren Summit, from The Wind in High Places
Dream of the Canyon Wren
Rising, from untouched
Sky with Nameless Colors, from Canticles of the Sky

Mark your calendars--we hope you'll come to more than one event!

Friday, October 7 @7pm
Opening Night at Artspace
2833-A Hathaway Rd., Richmond
$15
Doors open at 6:30
Get tickets
Concert Sponsor: Michael and Nancy Lott

Tuesday, October 11 @7:30pm
BYOB House Show at Minimum Wage
806 Albemarle St., Richmond
Free admission; registration required
Doors open at 7
Register
Concert Sponsor: Matt Edwards

Friday, October 14 @7pm
Reveille United Methodist Church
4200 Cary Street Rd., Richmond
Free admission; donations encouraged
Doors open at 6:30
Concert Sponsor: Reveille United Methodist Church

Saturday, October 15 @2pm
Pop-up Concert
Location will be announced a week before the event!
Free and open to the public
Concert Sponsor: Kerry Mills and Pippin Barnett

Friday, October 21 @7:30pm
Perkinson Center for the Arts & Education
11810 Centre Street, Chester
$10-20
Get tickets
Concert Sponsor: Gabriella Ryan
2022/10/01
PROGRAM

John Luther Adams
Ten Thousand Birds
Alarm will sound

Carol Robinson
La lumière, les arbres et l'eau
Quatuor Impact
Carol Robinson, birbynė

This evening is an invitation to take in John Luther Adams’ stunning Ten Thousand Birds performed by the ensemble Alarm Will Sound, along with pieces by Carol Robinson (including one premiere) played by the composer herself and the IMPACT Quartet.
Cardiff, Wales—Inuksuit
2022/09/28
Inuksuit
(70′ approx.)



We bring John Luther Adams’ concert-length work for massed percussion ensemble to the green jewel in Cardiff’s crown; Bute Park.



This is a free event suitable for all ages and for the whole community, and audience members are encouraged to wander, picnic and marvel at each varied and unique sound world discovered from every angle of this beautiful setting.



Register through the above link for a free e-ticket and have a look at the below map to find out where the action takes place or download here:
Inuksuit Site Map for Public
Cardiff, Wales—Nunataks
2022/09/25
THE CARDUCCI QUARTET WITH ROBIN GREEN (PIANO)

Programme



John Luther Adams
Nunataks
9’



Philip Glass
String Quartet No. 2 “Company”
9’



György Kurtág
Selection from Játékok
10’



Huw Watkins
Piano Quintet
20’



There will be no interval at this performance.
Ottawa, Canada—Become Ocean
2022/09/24
OUTI TARKIAINEN Songs of the Ice
ANNA CLYNE Restless Oceans
JOHN LUTHER ADAMS Become Ocean

We honour the voice of Mother Nature with music dedicated to the critical ecological milestones our planet faces, including two works from ground-breaking female composers Anna Clyne and Outi Tarkiainen.

British composer Anna Clyne wrote Restless Oceans for Marin Alsop and the all-women Taki Concordia Orchestra for performance at the World Economic Forum in Davos in 2019. In addition to playing their instruments, the musicians are called upon to use their voices in song and strong vocalizations, and their feet to stomp and bring them to stand united at the end. “My intention was to write a defiant piece that embraces the power of women.''

Songs of the Ice, by Finnish composer Outi Tarkiainen, evokes the slow and silent breathing of the Earth’s ice as it swells in winter and contracts in summer in an age-old rhythm that is gradually being lost. Songs of the Ice is dedicated to Iceland’s Okjökull (Ok glacier), which was declared “dead” by the Icelandic Meteorological Office in 2014, by which time the glacier had lost almost 80 percent of its mass and was no longer a living, moving glacier.

Our concert closes with John Luther Adams’s epic Become Ocean, an all-encompassing sonic seascape that engulfs us in “roiling waves of sound, curling up and out…not so much ebbing as subsuming everything else” (npr.org). Winner of the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Music, Become Ocean is written for three orchestras, each of which moves on its own sonic journey before meeting as one in crucial moments. If the ocean of our planet has a song, then Become Ocean is it.

***This concert is presented as part of the NAC Orchestra’s SPHERE Festival which will take place on September 22-25, 2022
Penarth, Wales—Five Yup’ik Dances/Five Athabascan Dances
2022/09/24
DEIAN ROWLANDS (HARP) AND SARA TRICKEY (VIOLIN)

Programme

John Luther Adams
Five Yup’ik Dances
Harp, 12’



Huw Watkins
Partita
Violin, 15’



Mared Emlyn
Perlau yn y glaw (Movements 1-4)
Harp, 8’



Interval



Huw Watkins
Suite for Harp
8’



Freya Waley-Cohen
Unveil
Violin, 10’



John Luther Adams
Five Athabascan Dances
Harp & Percussion, 16’



Deian is joined by percussionist Rhydian Griffiths for Five Athanascan Dances.
His music perfectly echoes the landscape he loves: impersonal, relentless, larger than human scale, yet gorgeous, a quiet chaos of colors, suffused with light. It’s not a climate everyone could live in. But for those who want to bathe their ears in an aural aurora borealis while staying warm inside, it’s a spiritual odyssey well worth taking. - Kyle Gann
john luther adams
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