In June thirty select percussionists gathered at an idyllic studio in the forest of Vermont to record Inuksuit for a new CD on Cantaloupe Music. Recognized among the most memorable performances of 2011 in New York City by The New Yorker, Time Out, New York magazine and others, Inuksuit has recently been performed in Melbourne, Canberra, Toronto, Berkeley, Ojai, Lisbon, The Hague, and Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
Ilimaq ("Sprit Journeys"), a new work for drummer Glenn Kotche and electronic sounds, will premiere in Austin, Texas. Subsequent performances will occur at Stanford, Duke University, and the Walker Arts Center.
Mode Records releases songbirdsongs - JLA's seminal work, in a sparkling performance by the Callithumpian Consort directed by Stephen Drury.
"For me, it began with birds."
- John Luther Adams
"Even in his earliest work Mr. Adams had an instinctive sense of the way music builds and breathes."
- Zachary Woolfe, The New York Times
The Farthest Place: The Music of John Luther Adams, the first book-length study of JLA's work includes essays by Alex Ross, Kyle Gann, Steven Schick, Glenn Kotche and other prominent musicians and scholars.
"John Luther Adams inspires us not only to listen more attentively, but to be more aware of the world in which we live. This ... book ... should not only be on the shelves of everyone interested in the music of our time but also anyone interested in being alive."
- Frank J. Oteri
John Luther Adams is honored with one of the 17th Annual Heinz Awards recognizing "individuals who are working toward real and inspirational solutions for environmental problems."
Currently JLA is composing Become Ocean for the Seattle Symphony, and Become River for the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. Both pieces will be premiered in spring 2013.
