Samuel_Carl_Adams

Samuel Adams (composer)

Samuel Adams (composer)

American composer (born 1985)


Samuel Adams (born December 30, 1985) is an American composer. He was born in San Francisco, California. He is a recipient of a 2019 Guggenheim Fellowship.

Quick Facts Background information, Birth name ...

Life and career

Adams grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he performed double bass and studied composition and electroacoustics at Stanford University; he later studied with Martin Bresnick. His music draws on his experiences in a diverse array of disciplines including classical forms, microsound, noise, improvised music and field recording.[1]

Adams has received commissions from New World Symphony, San Francisco Symphony,[2][3][4] Carnegie Hall, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and has collaborated with performers such as Emanuel Ax, Sarah Cahill, Karen Gomyo, Jennifer Koh, Anthony Marwood, Joyce Yang and conductors such as David Robertson, Esa-Pekka Salonen, and Michael Tilson Thomas. He is currently one of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's two composers-in-residence, having been jointly named to the post with Elizabeth Ogonek in 2015.[5]

He is the son of composer John Adams and photographer Deborah O'Grady.[6]

Notable works

Orchestral and Large Ensemble Works

  • Drift and Providence (2012)
  • Violin Concerto (2013)
  • Radial Play (2014)[7]
  • many words of love (2016)[8]
  • Chamber Concerto (2017)
  • Movements (for Us and Them) (Concerto Grosso) (2018)
  • Variations (2020)
  • Echo Transcriptions (2022)
  • No Such Spring (2021-2022)
  • Eden Interstates (2023)

Chamber works

  • Tension Studies for electric guitar, percussion, and electronics (2010 - 2011)
  • String Quartet in Five Movements (2013)
  • Quartet Movement (2016)
  • Quintet with Pillars (2018)
  • Second Quartet (2016-2019)
  • Violin Diptych (2020)[9]
  • Sundial (2021)

Solo works

  • Shade Studies (2014)
  • Impromptus (2015)
  • Sonatas (2016)
  • Playing Changes (2020)
  • Etudes (2023)

Multimedia works

  • Lyra (2018-2020)

Discography

See also


References

  1. Day, Jeffrey (2013-06-02). "A brief, rough draft of music history". Charleston City Paper. Archived from the original on 2013-09-06. Retrieved 2013-09-06.
  2. Anthony Tommasini (2012-09-30). "Orchestra and Laptop on a Voyage of Discovery". New York Times. Retrieved 2013-09-06.
  3. Joshua Kosman (2012-09-30). "'Drift and Providence' delivers: review". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2013-09-06.
  4. Mark Swed (2013-04-18). "Critic's Notebook: Music That's All Over the Map". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2013-09-06.
  5. Doyle Armbrust (2015-10-01). "Meet the Chicago Symphony's Newest Composers-in-Residence". Chicago Magazine. Retrieved 2017-03-19.
  6. Anastasia Tsoiuclas (2014-07-22). "America's Youth Orchestra Hits The Road — This Time, Playing For U.S." National Public Radio. Retrieved 2017-03-19.
  7. Nancy Malitz (2017-03-20). "Lyricism Layered in Words of Love". Classical Voice America. Retrieved 2017-03-20.

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