Adams, John Luther

Adams, John Luther, gifted American composer; b. Meridian, Miss., Jan. 23, 1953. He was influenced in his youth by the experimental practices of Frank Zappa, Edgar Vàrese, Morton Feldman, and Henry Cowell. After studies with Leonard Stein and James Tenney at the Calif. Inst. for the Arts in Valencia, he moved to Alaska (1975), where he played timpani in the Fairbanks Sym. Orch. (1982–92). He joined the faculty of the Oberlin (Ohio) Cons, of Music in 1998, and in 1999 became president of the American Music Center. With Michael Gordon, Mikel Rouse, David First, Ben Neill, et al., Adams is an apt representative of the 1990s compositional school called totalism. He is also a devoted environmentalist and outdoorsman, and many of his works evoke the placid beauty of the Alaskan terrain.

Works

Clouds of Forgetting, Clouds of Unknowing for Orch. (1990–95); Strange and Sacred Noise for Percussion Ensemble (1991–97); Dream in White on White for String Quartet, Harp, and String Orch., in “white note” tonality (1992); Earth and the Great Weather (1993), a plotless opera tonally evoking Alaska, including recorded sounds from nature and a recitation of Eskimo place names; The Time of Drumming for Orch. (1995; Long Beach, Calif., Oct. 16, 1999; also 2 Pianos, 4 Percussion, and Timpani, 1997); In the White Silence for Celesta, Harp, 2 Vibraphones, String Quartet, and String Orch. (Oberlin, Nov. 11, 1998); In A Treeless Place, Only Snow for Harp, Celesta, 2 Vibraphones, and String Quartet (Portland, Ore., Nov. 19, 1999); The Light That Fills the World for Chamber Ensemble (San Francisco, Nov. 20, 1999); Time Undisturbed for 3 Kotos and Sho (1999; also for Western Ensemble of Piccolo, Alto Flute, Bass Flute, 3 Harps, and Sustaining Keyboard).

—Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire