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John Adams: New England
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John Adams is one of the best known and most often performed of America's composers. As Andrew Porter wrote in The New Yorker, Adams is the creator of a "flexible new language capable of producing large-scale works that are both attractive and strongly fashioned. His is a music whose highly polished resonant sound is wonderful." Le Monde says that his music "...gives the impression of a rediscovered liberty, of an open door which lets in the fresh air in great gusts."
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According to John Adams, Executive Director of the Laredo Development Foundation, the port of Laredo crossed over $80 billion in merchandise in 2003, destined to over 50 nations. Over 700 of the Fortune 1000 multinationals do business in the region. Given the expanded overland trade from both Houston and the Port of Corpus Christi and growing consumer demand in Mexico, the year-end projections remain positive. In the sectors of rail and air shipments, Laredo has continued to show steady increases. Railroad operations currently account for some 1,800 crossings per day across a single track bridge. Some $10 million has been invested in the Laredo International Airport to improve primary runways, increase ramp area space, and add new logistical facilities.
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John Adams began his presentation by expressing the hope that he could make some connections with the previous session, on the SGR Climate Train and the forthcoming Kyoto Conference on climate change. His presentation was supplemented by a paper, included in the Conference Pack, which gives more extensive details, and contains literature references including his own book "Risk" (1995, UCL Press, London). Risk analysis and assessment are about how to behave scientifically and responsibly in the face of uncertainty. The Royal Society studied risk assessment in 1982, and held a conference on "Science, Policy and Risk" on 17 March 1997 [reported by Tim Foxon in SGR Newsletter (May 1997), No. 15, pp. 4-5. Ed.].
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John Adams was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1947 and graduated from Harvard University in 1971. He moved to California where he taught and conducted at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music for ten years. His innovative concerts led to his appointment firstly as contemporary music advisor to the San Francisco Symphony, and then as the orchestra's composer-in-residence between 1979 and 1985, the period in which his reputation became established with the success of such works as "Harmonium" and "Harmonielehre". Recordings on the New Albion and ECM labels were followed by a contract with Nonesuch Records in 1986.
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The music of John Adams has been recorded in multiple versions on the Nonesuch, EMI/Angel, Philips, ECM, Chandos, New Albion, and 1750 Arch labels. Among recent recordings are his Grand Pianola Music with the Netherlands Wind Ensemble conducted by Stephen Mosko, a new release of Harmonielehre and The Chairman Dances conducted by Simon Rattle, and Harmonium conducted by Leonard Slatkin. In 1985, Harmonielehre was honored as "Best Classical Album" by both Time and USA Today. Harmonium, Grand Pianola Music, Shaker Loops, Harmonielehre, Phrygian Gates, and China Gates are available in published form from Associated Music Publishers.
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John 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 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 at the BBC Proms concerts.
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