Maestro Ransom Wilson will conduct the Redlands Symphony in a concert featuring the California premier of a new work by celebrated American composer, John Luther Adams, in concert on Saturday, April 14, 2018 in Memorial Chapel on the campus of the University of Redlands. Doors open at 7 PM and there will be a pre-concert talk presented by Maestro Wilson starting at 7:15. The concert begins at 8 PM.
The concert program also includes Artemis by Christopher THEOFANIDIS, Sérénade by Jean FRANCAIX, and Aaron COPLAND’S Appalachian Spring. The new piece by Adams is the result of a first-ever collaboration between the Redlands Symphony and three other orchestras, including The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. The other orchestras participating in the commission project include Camerata Pacifica from Santa Barbara, California, Chamber Music Northwest from Portland, Oregon and Emerald City Music from Seattle, Washington.
When he made the announcement about the collaboration in February 2017, Maestro Wilson said, "This is a truly historic moment…the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and one of the world’s greatest living composers have decided that they want to collaborate with the Redlands Symphony! I am honored and thrilled beyond words. I can’t wait to share the magical music we will create with all of Redlands!”
New York Times music critic, Anthony Tommasini, described the new piece by Adams – there is no one, not even the wind – as “…quietly cosmic,” Tommasini’s review goes on to say, “Mr. Adams stacks up tones to create wondrously strange and alluring harmonies. Sometimes the music reposes on what seems a soft, lushly diatonic chord….” The piece was performed in November at Lincoln Center with Maestro Wilson playing flute.
John Luther Adams is a composer whose life and work are deeply rooted in the natural world.
Adams was awarded the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Music for his symphonic work Become Ocean, and a 2015 Grammy Award for “Best Contemporary Classical Composition”. Inuksuit, his outdoor work for up to 99 percussionists, is regularly performed all over the world.
Columbia University has honored Adams with the William Schuman Award “to recognize the lifetime achievement of an American composer whose works have been widely performed and generally acknowledged to be of lasting significance.”
A recipient of the Heinz Award for his contributions to raising environmental awareness, JLA has also been honored with the Nemmers Prize from Northwestern University “for melding the physical and musical worlds into a unique artistic vision that transcends stylistic boundaries.”
Born in 1953, JLA grew up in the South and in the suburbs of New York City. He studied composition with James Tenney at the California Institute of the Arts, where he was in the first graduating class (in 1973). In the mid-1970s he became active in the campaign for the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, and subsequently served as executive director of the Northern Alaska Environmental Center.
Adams has taught at Harvard University, the Oberlin Conservatory, Bennington College, and the University of Alaska. He has also served as composer in residence with the Anchorage Symphony, Anchorage Opera, Fairbanks Symphony, Arctic Chamber Orchestra, and the Alaska Public Radio Network.
The music of John Luther Adams is recorded on Cantaloupe, Cold Blue, New World, Mode, and New Albion. Wesleyan University Press publishes his books.