John Adams to join IMG Artists for North/South American representation
20 June 2006
For Immediate Release: June 20, 2006
IMG Artists Announces North and South American Representation of Composer/Conductor John Adams
New York City, NY - IMG Artists proudly announces the North and South American conducting representation of composer John Adams.
One of the most admired and performed composers of our time, Adams regularly conducts the world's greatest orchestras in programs combining his own works with composers as diverse as Debussy, Sibelius and Ravel to Copland, Stravinsky and Ellington. In recent seasons, he has conducted the Chicago and San Francisco Symphonies, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Cleveland, Montreal and Philadelphia Orchestras, the St Paul Chamber Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic. European engagements have included performances with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie, Ensemble Modern, Oslo Philharmonic, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Concertgebouw, Santa Cecilia and London Symphony Orchestra. He is a regular guest conductor for the BBC Proms concerts.
Adams has received critical acclaim for his creative programming at the most important music venues in the world. In spring of 2003, Lincoln Center presented a festival entitled "John Adams: An American Master," the most extensive festival ever mounted at Lincoln Center devoted to a living composer. He currently holds the Composer Chair at Carnegie Hall where his activities include the planning and directing of concerts in the new 600-seat Zankel Hall. Most recently, Adams created "Minimalist Jukebox” for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, a comprehensive retrospective that embraced the music of Reich, Glass, Andriessen and Part in addition to electronica and world music. Additionally, Adams is the subject of two documentary films: Hail Bop! (1998) by Tony Palmer, and a more recent one by David Jeffcock (2003).
Adams’ innovative concerts at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music led to his appointment as the San Francisco Symphony’s composer-in-residence from 1979 to 1985. There, Adams established his reputation with the success of such works as Harmonium and Harmonielehre. Since then, works such as his Violin Concerto, Naïve and Sentimental Music, El Nino and the opera Nixon in China have entered the classical repertoire.
Recordings on the New Albion and ECM labels were followed in 1986 by an exclusive contract with Nonesuch Records, an association that continues today. In 1999 Nonesuch released The John Adams Earbox, a 10-CD compilation comprising nearly all of the composer's music over a twenty year period.
In 1985 Adams initiated artistic collaborations with poet Alice Goodman and stage director Peter Sellars that resulted in two operas: Nixon in China and The Death of Klinghoffer, two of the most frequently performed operas in recent history. A 2003 movie version of The Death of Klinghoffer (conducted by Adams) was filmed in the Mediterranean on board a cruise liner, breaking new ground in the presentation of opera on film. Doctor Atomic, Adams' latest collaboration with Sellars, premiered with the San Francisco Opera on October 1, 2005. Performances will follow at Netherlands Opera (June 2007), Lyric Opera of Chicago (Autumn 2007), and the Metropolitan Opera (Autumn 2008).
In 2002 Adams composed On the Transmigation of Souls for the New York Philharmonic, a commemoration of the anniversary of the World Trade Center attacks. For this work, he received the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Music and the 2005 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Composition. In winning the latter award, Adams became the first composer in Grammy history to earn Best Contemporary Composition three times, having previously won for El Dorado (1998) and Nixon in China (1989). Adams' most recent orchestral compositions are My Father Knew Charles Ives and The Dharma at Big Sur, composed for the opening of Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles in October 2003. Scored for electric violin and orchestra, The Dharma at Big Sur is a tribute to the maverick artists who have shaped the culture of the West Coast.
Adams is currently composing The Flowering Tree on commission from the New Crowned Hope Festival, the Barbican Center, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and the San Francisco Symphony. The work will premiere at Vienna's New Crowned Hope Festival in November 2006, where Adams will also conduct the Simon Bolivar National Youth Orchestra of Venezuela.
IMG Artists Senior Vice President Edward Yim commented, "John has a restless creativity, a unique musical voice and a fierce curiosity. But in the end, what is most important is that his music and his music-making reach people so directly and emotionally. I was a huge fan of his work as a presenter, and I am beyond thrilled to work for him on his American conducting engagements and special projects."
Please visit John Adams’ official website www.earbox.com. The music of John Adams is published by Boosey & Hawkes and Associated Music Publishers.
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For further information please contact:
Amanda Ameer
Publicity Manager
IMG Artists – New York
Tel: 212-994-3532