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Alaska-based John Luther Adams Combines Music With Environmentalism

Composer John Luther Adams is called an environmental composer because the music he writes has a direct relationship to the landscape and environment of his adopted home in Alaska. The La Jolla Sympho

Alaska-based John Luther Adams Combines Music With Environmentalism

Tom Fudge: What inspires people to write music? There's no one answer. It could be love of God, love of a person, or just the need to express this idea that got lodged in your head. For composer John Luther Adams, the inspiration is Alaska. That's where he's lived for the past two decades.

Critics have praised his work as a true sonic expression of the state's vast and beautiful landscape. In fact, Adams himself has written eloquently about his music's connection to landscape, which one writer has called the "culture that contains all human cultures."

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The La Jolla Symphony and Chorus will perform two symphonies from Prague and from Alaska, including John Luther Adams' Dark Waves , this weekend at Mandeville Auditorium on the UCSD campus. 

Guests

  • John Luther Adams , composer who has lived for many years in Alaska. His composition Dark Waves is being performed by the La Jolla Symphony and Chorus this weekend.
  •   Steven Schick , music director and conductor of the La Jolla Symphony and Chorus. He is a percussionist and has collaborated with Adams over the years.