For the Alaska-based postminimalist composer, see John Luther Adams.

John Coolidge Adams (born February 15, 1947) is an American composer, with strong roots in minimalism. John Luther Adams (born 1953) is a composer whose music embodies the landscapes of Alaska, his home since 1978. ... February 15 is the 46th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1947 calendar). ... A composer is a person who writes music. ... Minimalism describes movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music, where the work is stripped down to its most fundamental features and core self expression. ...

Life

John Adams was born in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1947 and graduated from Harvard University in 1971. He studied with Leon Kirchner. During these years, he occasionally played clarinet in the Boston Symphony Orchestra and was active as a conductor, leading the Harvard University Bach Society Orchestra. He moved to California where he taught and conducted at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music for ten years.   Nickname: The Heart of the Commonwealth, The City of the Seven Hills, Wormtown Settled: 1673 â€“ Incorporated: 1684 Zip Code(s): 01608 â€“ Area Code(s): 508 / 774 Official website: http://www. ... Harvard University (incorporated as The President and Fellows of Harvard College) , is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. Founded in 1636,[1] Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning still operating in the United States. ... Leon Kirchner (born January 24, 1919 in Brooklyn, NY) is an American composer of classical music. ...

His innovative concerts led to his appointment firstly as contemporary music adviser to Edo de Waart and the San Francisco Symphony, and then as the orchestra's composer-in-residence between 1979 and 1985, the period in which his reputation became established with the success of such works as Harmonium and Harmonielehre. Recordings on the New Albion and ECM labels were followed in 1986 by an exclusive contract with Nonesuch Records, an association that continues today. In 1999 Nonesuch released The John Adams Earbox, a critically-lauded 10-CD retrospective box set. Logo. ... Harmonium, by the American composer John Coolidge Adams, is a richly-textured, large-scale work for orchestra and chorus based on poetry by John Donne and Emily Dickinson. ... Harmonielehre is a 1985 composition written by John Adams. ...

Of John Adams's compositions, the best known and most widely discussed is his opera Nixon in China, given its premiere by Houston Grand Opera in 1987 and winner of the 1989 Grammy for "Best Contemporary Composition". With Nixon in China, the composer, along with director Peter Sellars, librettist Alice Goodman, and choreographer Mark Morris, brought contemporary history vividly into the opera house, pioneering an entire genre of post-modern music theater. Promotional flier for the Nixon in China opera. ... Grammy Award statuette The Grammy Awards, presented by the Recording Academy (an association of Americans professionally involved in the recorded music industry) for outstanding achievements in the recording industry, is one of four major music awards shows held annually in the United States (the Billboard Music Awards, the American Music... The Grammy Award for Best Classical Contemporary Composition was first awarded in 1961. ... Peter Sellars Peter Sellars (born 1957) is an American theater director, renowned for his modern stagings of classical operas and plays. ... Alice Goodman is the wife of noted poet Geoffrey Hill. ... Mark Morris Mark Morris (born: August 29, 1956) is an American modern dancer and choreographer whose work is acclaimed for its craftsmanship, ingenuity, humor, and at times eclectic musical accompaniments. ...

The original staging of the work by Sellars has subsequently been seen in New York, Washington, Amsterdam, Edinburgh, Los Angeles, Paris, Adelaide, and Frankfurt. New productions of the opera have been presented in Chicago, Helsinki (in Finnish), and Bielefeld (in German), while concert performances have recently been given in London and Tallinn, Estonia.

Adams's second opera, The Death of Klinghoffer, again a collaboration with Sellars, Goodman, and Morris, had its premiere at the Brussels Opera in 1991. Described by Newsweek critic Katrine Ames as "a work that fires the heart," it has also been seen in Lyon, Vienna, New York and San Francisco and was given its UK premiere by the BBC SO during the 2002 January Composer Weekend dedicated to Adams's music. Depicting the 1985 murder of American Leon Klinghoffer by Islamic terrorists on the cruise ship Achille Lauro, the opera has been criticized by some Jewish and Muslim groups as not being even-handed. John Adams has said that much of the controversy may stem from the fact that the terrorists are not portrayed as “poster board villains” in the opera. The Death of Klinghoffer is an opera by the contemporary American composer John Adams to an English libretto by the poet Alice Goodman. ...

His next stage work was a collaboration with Peter Sellars and librettist June Jordan; entitled I Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I Saw the Sky, it is described by its creators as a 'song play,' scored for seven singers and an onstage band of eight instrumentalists. Ceiling/Sky, which made its debut in Berkeley in May 1995, has since been performed throughout North America and Europe. Adams's newest opera, Doctor Atomic, which premiered October 1, 2005, is also a collaboration with Sellars. The action of the opera is centered on the very first test of the atomic bomb, and is mainly about J. Robert Oppenheimer. Peter Sellars Peter Sellars (born 1957) is an American theater director, renowned for his modern stagings of classical operas and plays. ... I Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I Saw the Sky is a 1995 musical/opera written by John Adams, with a libretto by June Jordan. ... Doctor Atomic is an opera by the contemporary minimalist American composer John Adams, with libretto by Peter Sellars. ... J. Robert Oppenheimer, father of the atomic bomb, served as the first director of Los Alamos National Laboratory, beginning in 1943. ...

John Adams became the BBC Symphony Orchestra's Artist in Association in June 2003. In the words of Adams himself, "the position is sufficiently unstructured and flexible to allow any number of wild things to happen." The BBC Symphony Orchestra is the principal orchestra of the British Broadcasting Corporation and one of the leading orchestras in Britain. ...

On 23 November 2004, the British Academy presented a Fellowship of the Academy to John Adams at the Barbican, London, following a concert with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus conducted by the composer and including his work Harmonium. November 23 is the 327th day of the year (328th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 38 days remaining. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Barbican in Kraków Barbican (from mediæval Latin barbecana) - a fortified outpost or gateway, such as an outer defence to a city or castle and any tower situated over a gate or bridge which was used for defence purposes. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... The BBC Symphony Chorus is one of the finest and most distinctive amateur choruses in the United Kingdom and celebrated its 75th Anniversary during the 2003-04 season. ... Harmonium, by the American composer John Coolidge Adams, is a richly-textured, large-scale work for orchestra and chorus based on poetry by John Donne and Emily Dickinson. ...

In 2005, the premiere recording of On the Transmigration of Souls (with Lorin Maazel conducting the New York Philharmonic) won three Grammy awards: Best Classical Album, Best Orchestral Performance, and Best Classical Contemporary Composition. The 47th Grammy Awards were held on February 13, 2005 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. ... Lorin Varencove Maazel (born March 6, 1930) is a conductor, violinist and composer. ... The New York Philharmonic is the oldest active symphony orchestra in the United States. ... Grammy Award statuette The Grammy Awards, presented by the Recording Academy (an association of Americans professionally involved in the recorded music industry) for outstanding achievements in the recording industry, is one of four major music awards shows held annually in the United States (the Billboard Music Awards, the American Music... The Grammy Award for Best Classical Album has been awarded since 1962. ... The Grammy Award for Best Orchestral Performance has been awarded since 1959. ... The Grammy Award for Best Classical Contemporary Composition was first awarded in 1961. ...

Musical style and major works

Initially known as a minimalist, Adams has in his mature work harnessed the rhythmic energy of Minimalism to an extraordinary harmonic palette and fertile orchestral imagination, with the strong influence of late-Romanticism evident. Concurrently he has introduced references to a wide range of 20th-century idioms — both 'popular' and 'serious' — in works such as his operas, the wittily eclectic orchestral piece Fearful Symmetries, which touches on Stravinsky, Honegger, and big-band swing music, and the recent My Father Knew Charles Ives, which stakes out strikingly original territory. Minimalism describes movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music, where the work is stripped down to its most fundamental features and core self expression. ... Minimalism describes movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music, where the work is stripped down to its most fundamental features and core self expression. ... Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (Russian: Игорь Фёдорович Стравинский, Igor Fëdorovič Stravinskij) (June 17, 1882 – April 6, 1971) was a Russian composer, considered by many in both the West and his native land to be the most influential composer of 20th-century music. ... Arthur Honegger in 1921. ...

In a similar vein, Adams's Chamber Symphony, premiered in January 1993, merges the virtuosic expressionism of Schoenberg with the manic world of cartoon soundtrack music. Scored for fifteen instruments, Chamber Symphony has met with extraordinary success: more than 40 ensembles have performed or scheduled the work. In addition, Chamber Symphony won Adams the 1994 Royal Philharmonic Society Music Award for best chamber composition.

Orchestral works by Adams include the two often-heard fanfares Short Ride in a Fast Machine and Tromba Lontana; his acclaimed Walt Whitman setting The Wound-Dresser; and El Dorado, a commission from the San Francisco Symphony that addresses the effects of greed on our environment and society. Short Ride in a Fast Machine (Fanfare for Great Woods) by John Coolidge Adams is one of the most frequently requested and performed encores in American concert-halls. ... Tromba Lontana is a piece written by American minimalist composer John Adams in 1986. ... Walt Whitman Walter Whitman (May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist, journalist, and humanist. ... The Wound-Dresser is a nineteen minute-long piece by minimalist composer John Adams for orchestra and baritone singer. ... The Zipa used to cover his body in gold and, from his raft, he offered treasures to the Guatavita goddess in the middle of the sacred lake. ...

For his Violin Concerto, written in an unusual three-way commission between the Minnesota Orchestra, the London Symphony and the New York City Ballet, Adams was awarded the 1995 Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition. Other honors include the California Governor's Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Arts, the Cyril Magnin Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Arts, and the rank of Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, awarded by the French Ministry of Culture. Written in 1993 by the American composer John Adams, the Violin Concerto is more sophisticated than conventional minimalist works. ... The Grawemeyer Award for music composition is an annual prize instituted by H. Charles Grawemeyer, industrialist and entrepreneur, at the University of Louisville in 1984. ... A Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres, sometimes called a Chevalier dans lOrdre des Arts et des Lettres (in English, Knight [of the Order] of Arts and Letters) is a distinction awarded by the Minister of Culture of France in recognition of outstanding achievement in the arts. ...

February 1999 brought the world premiere in Los Angeles of Naïve and Sentimental Music, commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Vancouver Symphony, Sydney Symphony, and Ensemble Modern Orchestra. This 50-minute orchestral essay has been widely hailed as one of Adams's crowning achievements in the medium. Other orchestral pieces written during the 1990s include Slonimsky's Earbox (1996), commissioned jointly by the Hallé Orchestra and the Oregon Symphony; Gnarly Buttons (1996), a clarinet concerto given its premiere by soloist Michael Collins and the London Sinfonietta with the composer conducting; and Century Rolls, a piano concerto written for Emanuel Ax, and premiered in 1997 by Ax with the Cleveland Orchestra under Christoph von Dohnányi. 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... Flag Seal Nickname: City of Angels Location Location within Los Angeles County in the state of California Coordinates , Government State County California Los Angeles County Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (D) Geographical characteristics Area     City 1,290. ... The Los Angeles Philharmonic is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California. ... The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (VSO) is a Canadian orchestra performing in Vancouver, British Columbia. ... Sydney Symphony Orchestra, now known as the Sydney Symphony, is a symphony orchestra based in Sydney, Australia. ... Slonimskys Earbox is a 13-minute orchestral piece written by the prominent American composer John Adams. ... The Hallé Orchestra is one of Britains longest established orchestras, and is based in Manchester. ... The Oregon Symphony is an American orchestra based in Portland, Oregon. ... Gnarly Buttons is a composition for solo clarinet and chamber ensemble by the American composer John Coolidge Adams. ... A clarinet concerto is a concerto for clarinet and orchestra. ... The London Sinfonietta is a British chamber orchestra based in London. ... Century Rolls is a 1997 piano concerto written by the American minimalist composer John Adams and commissioned by Emanuel Ax. ... Emanuel Ax Emanuel Ax (born June 8, 1949) is a Polish-born American pianist. ... 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Cleveland Orchestra is one of the major symphony orchestras in the United States. ... Christoph von Dohnányi (born September 18, 1929) is a German conductor. ...

Adams's work On the Transmigration of Souls, a choral work commemorating the victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks, won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Music. However, after winning the award Adams expressed "ambivalence bordering on contempt" since he felt that the prize had "lost much of the prestige it still carries in other fields" because "most of the country's greatest musical minds" have been ignored in favor of academic music. [1] On the Transmigration of Souls, for orchestra, chorus, children’s choir and pre-recorded soundtrack is a composition by composer John Coolidge Adams commissioned by The New York Philharmonic and Lincoln Center’s Great Performers (and an anonymous but well known New York family) shortly after the September... A sequential look at United Flight 175 crashing into the south tower of the World Trade Center The September 11, 2001 attacks (often referred to as 9/11—pronounced nine eleven or nine one one) consisted of a series of coordinated terrorist[1] suicide attacks upon the United States, predominantly... The Pulitzer Prize for Music was first awarded in 1943. ... Plato is credited with the inception of academia: the body of knowledge, its development and transmission across generations. ...

Works

Stage

Promotional flier for the Nixon in China opera. ... The Death of Klinghoffer is an opera by the contemporary American composer John Adams to an English libretto by the poet Alice Goodman. ... I Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I Saw the Sky is a 1995 musical/opera written by John Adams, with a libretto by June Jordan. ... El Niño is a nativity oratorio by the American minimalist composer John Coolidge Adams. ... Doctor Atomic is an opera by the contemporary minimalist American composer John Adams, with libretto by Peter Sellars. ...

Orchestra

Harmonium, by the American composer John Coolidge Adams, is a richly-textured, large-scale work for orchestra and chorus based on poetry by John Donne and Emily Dickinson. ... Written in 1978 by the American composer John Adams, Shaker Loops was originally written for string septet. ... Harmonielehre is a 1985 composition written by John Adams. ... The Chairman Dances is a 1985 composition by John Adams. ... Tromba Lontana is a piece written by American minimalist composer John Adams in 1986. ... Short Ride in a Fast Machine (Fanfare for Great Woods) by John Coolidge Adams is one of the most frequently requested and performed encores in American concert-halls. ... Written in 1993 by the American composer John Adams, the Violin Concerto is more sophisticated than conventional minimalist works. ... Lollapalooza is a short piece composed by American minimalist composer John Adams in 1995. ... Slonimskys Earbox is a 13-minute orchestral piece written by the prominent American composer John Adams. ... Century Rolls is a 1997 piano concerto written by the American minimalist composer John Adams and commissioned by Emanuel Ax. ... On the Transmigration of Souls, for orchestra, chorus, children’s choir and pre-recorded soundtrack is a composition by composer John Coolidge Adams commissioned by The New York Philharmonic and Lincoln Center’s Great Performers (and an anonymous but well known New York family) shortly after the September...

Voice and orchestra

• (1987) The Nixon Tapes
• (1988) The Wound-Dresser

The Wound-Dresser is a nineteen minute-long piece by minimalist composer John Adams for orchestra and baritone singer. ...

Chamber Music

• (1970) Piano Quintet
• (1992) Chamber Symphony
• (1978) Shaker Loops
• (1994) John's Book of Alleged Dances
• (1995) Road Movies
• (1996) Gnarly Buttons

Written in 1978 by the American composer John Adams, Shaker Loops was originally written for string septet. ... Johns Book of Alleged Dances is a composition by John Coolidge Adams for string quartet and recorded prepared piano. ... Road Movies is a 1995 composition for piano and violin by American minimalist composer John Adams. ... Gnarly Buttons is a composition for solo clarinet and chamber ensemble by the American composer John Coolidge Adams. ...

Other ensemble works

• (1973) American Standard
• (1973) Christian Zeal and Activity
• (1975) Grounding
• (1982) Grand Pianola Music
• (1996) Scratchband
• (2001) Nancy's Fancy

Chorus

• (1973) Ktaadn
• (1980) Harmonium
• (1991) Choruses from The Death of Klinghoffer
• (2002) On the Transmigration of Souls

Harmonium, by the American composer John Coolidge Adams, is a richly-textured, large-scale work for orchestra and chorus based on poetry by John Donne and Emily Dickinson. ... On the Transmigration of Souls, for orchestra, chorus, children’s choir and pre-recorded soundtrack is a composition by composer John Coolidge Adams commissioned by The New York Philharmonic and Lincoln Center’s Great Performers (and an anonymous but well known New York family) shortly after the September...

Tape and electronic compostions

• (1971) Heavy Metal
• (1976) Studebaker Love Music
• (1976) Onyx
• (1983) Light Over Water
• (1992) Hoodoo Zephyr

Piano

• (1977) Phrygian Gates
• (1977) China Gates
• (1996) Hallelujah Junction
• (2001) American Berzerk

Phrygian Gates is a piano piece written by minimalist composer John Coolidge Adams in 1977-1978. ... China Gates is a short piano piece composed by the minimalist American composer John Adams in 1977. ... Hallelujah Junction is a piece written for two pianos by the American composer John Adams. ... American Bersek is a short (approximately 7 minutes long) solo piano composition by the American composer, John Coolidge Adams. ...

Film score

• (1982) Matter of Heart
• (1999?) An American Tapestry

Arrangements and Orchestrations

• (1990) The Black Gondola (orchestration of Franz Liszt’s La Lugubre Gondola)
• (1991) Berceuse Élégiaque (arrangement of Ferruccio Busoni’s original)
• (1993) Le Livre de Baudelaire (orchestration of four songs from Cinq poèmes de Charles Baudelaire by Claude Debussy)
• (1995) La Mufa (orchestration of an Astor Piazzolla tango)
• (1996) Todo Buenos Aires (orchestration of an Astor Piazzolla tango)
• (1989-1993) Six Songs by Charles Ives (arranged of songs by Charles Ives)

Franz Liszt (Hungarian: Liszt Ferenc) (October 22, 1811 – July 31, 1886) was a Hungarian virtuoso pianist and composer of the Romantic period. ... Ferruccio Busoni Ferruccio Busoni (April 1, 1866 – July 27, 1924) was an Italian composer, pianist, music teacher and conductor. ... Achille-Claude Debussy (IPA ) (August 22, 1862 – March 25, 1918) was a French composer. ... Photograph of Piazzolla playing his bandoneon. ... Look up tango in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Photograph of Piazzolla playing his bandoneon. ... Look up tango in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Similar contemporary composers include Philip Glass, Steve Reich, and Terry Riley. Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an Academy Award-nominated American composer. ... Stephen Michael Reich (born October 3, 1936) is an American composer. ... Terry Riley – (Portrait by Betty Freeman) Terry Riley (born 24 June 1935) is an American composer associated with the minimalist school. ...

The modern-era soundtrack of the turn-based strategy game Sid Meier's Civilization IV includes some of John Coolidge Adams' works. A turn-based game, also known as turn-based strategy, is a game where each participant plays in turn. ... Sid Meiers Civilization IV is a turn-based strategy computer game. ...

Notable students

• Jin Hi Kim
• Aaron Jay Kernis
• Neil Rolnick

Jin Hi Kim (b. ... Aaron Jay Kernis (born January 15, 1960) is one of the most highly-honored contemporary composers. ... Neil B. Rolnick (b. ...

Further reading

• May, Thomas. The John Adams Reader (ISBN 1-57467-132-4)

External links

• John Adams official site (earbox.com)
• Audio: John Adams on KPFA's Ode To Gravity Series, 1973. Includes recordings of early works Heavy Metal, Hockey Scene, Period 1, and American Standard
• Boosey & Hawkes - John Adams biography and works
• John Adams in conversation with Robert Davidson
• G. Schirmer - John Adams biography and further reading
• NewMusicBox: John Adams in conversation with Frank J. Oteri, 2000
• Epitonic.com - John Adams featuring tracks from Shaker Loops
• Doctor Atomic website for the new opera
• Art of the States: John Adams