John Adams

John y Samantha Williams Presidente Creativo

Composer, conductor, and creative thinker—John Adams occupies a unique position in the world of music.

His works stand out among contemporary classical compositions for their depth of expression, brilliance of sound, and the profoundly humanist nature of their themes. His operas and oratorios such as Nixon in China, Doctor Atomic, and El Niño have transformed the genre of contemporary music theater. Spanning five decades, works such as Harmonielehre, Shaker Loops, The Dharma at Big Sur, and his Violin Concerto are among the most performed of all contemporary classical music.

As a conductor, Adams has led the world’s major orchestras, programming his own works with a wide variety of repertoire ranging from Beethoven, Mozart, and Debussy to Sibelius, Ives, Carter, Glass, and Ellington. Among his honorary doctorates are those from Yale, Harvard, Northwestern, and Cambridge universities and from The Juilliard School. A provocative writer, he is author of the highly acclaimed autobiography Hallelujah Junction and is a frequent contributor to The New York Times Book Review. Since 2009 Adams has been Creative Chair of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Nacido y criado en Nueva Inglaterra, Adams aprendió a tocar el clarinete con su padre y tocó en bandas de música y orquestas comunitarias durante sus años de formación. Comenzó a componer a los 10 años y sus primeras piezas orquestales se interpretaron cuando aún era adolescente. Tras graduarse en la Universidad de Harvard, se trasladó a California, donde reside desde entonces. en el 2019 recibió el premio Fronteras del Conocimiento del BBVA de España y el Premio Erasmus de Holanda «por sus notables contribuciones a la cultura, la sociedad y las ciencias sociales europeas», y en el 2021 fue nombrado académico honorario por la Asamblea General de Académicos de Santa Cecilia. Recibió el Premio Ditson director de orquesta2021 de la Universidad de Columbia en reconocimiento a su «excepcional compromiso con los compositores estadounidenses».

Entre los compromisos de Adams como director para la temporada 2025/26 se incluyen nuevas visitas a la Filarmónica de Los Ángeles y la Sinfónica de Houston, con su colaborador habitual Víkingur Ólafsson; la Orquesta de Cleveland; y la Sinfónica New World. Más lejos, también volverá a la Sinfónica de Gotemburgo, la Sinfonía Lahti, la Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, la Sinfónica Metropolitana de Tokio y la Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería de Ciudad de México, además de dirigir varios conciertos con la Orquesta Hallé durante un festival de tres días dedicado a su música.

Recent conducting appearances include The Cleveland Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Munich Philharmonic, Rotterdam Philharmonic, and the Metropolitan Opera for the American premiere of his most recent opera, Antony and Cleopatra. A five-time Grammy winner, Adams conducted the Los Angeles Philharmonic on the Nonesuch recording of his opera Girls of the Golden West, which received a 2024 Grammy nomination, his 15th, for Best Opera Recording.

In salute of Adams’ 75th birthday in 2022, Nonesuch Records released the 40-disc John Adams Collected Works, a box set of recordings spanning more than four decades of the composer’s career with the label. Also available as a box set is the Berliner Philharmoniker’s John Adams Edition, a CD and DVD collection comprising seven of his works, conducted by Simon Rattle, Gustavo Dudamel, Kirill Petrenko, Alan Gilbert, and Adams.

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