IMMEDIATE RELEASE MARCH 5, 2018
Shiva Shafii Public Relations Manager 206.215.4758 | [email protected]
Rosalie Contreras Vice President of Communications 206.215.4782 | [email protected]
"One of the most original musical thinkers of the new century." — Alex Ross, The New Yorker
LUDOVIC MORLOT AND SEATTLE SYMPHONY GIVE WORLD PREMIERE OF JOHN LUTHER ADAMS’ BECOME DESERT AT BENAROYA HALL MARCH 29 & 31
SEATTLE SYMPHONY TO PERFORM BECOME DESERT AND BECOME OCEAN AS PART OF RESIDENCY AT CAL PERFORMANCES, UC BERKELEY APRIL 7 AND 8
SPRING TOUR ALSO INCLUDES PERFORMANCES IN PALM DESERT AND LAS VEGAS WITH PIANIST JEREMY DENK, SEATTLE SYMPHONY’S 2017–2018 FEATURED ARTIST
Photo credits (l to r): Seattle Symphony by Brandon Patoc, John Luther Adams courtesy of the artist, Jeremy Denk by Michael Wilson
SEATTLE, WA – On the heels of Become Ocean, one of the most successful new works in recent American musical history, the Seattle Symphony has commissioned a second major orchestral work from John Luther Adams, Become Desert. On March 29 and 31, Music Director Ludovic Morlot will lead the orchestra in the world premiere of Become Desert at Benaroya Hall in Seattle as part of the Delta Air Lines Masterworks Season. The following week, the orchestra will embark on a four-concert tour, starting with performances in Palm Desert, California on April 4 and Las Vegas, Nevada, on April 5 with a program of Sibelius’ Second Symphony and Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5 with guest pianist Jeremy Denk, who is also a Seattle Symphony Featured Artist for the 2017–2018 season. The second part of the tour is a residency at the University of California, Berkeley, focusing on the music of John Luther Adams and featuring both Become Desert (California premiere) and Become Ocean. Become Desert will be performed on a program with Sibelius’ Symphony No. 2 on April 7, and Become Ocean will be performed on a program including The Oceanides and Britten’s Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes on April 8. The residency will include additional activities on the UC Berkeley campus.
Hailed by The New Yorker as “one of the most original musical thinkers of the new century,” Adams has won accolades for music that is visceral, breathtaking and highly innovative. The orchestra’s first commission by John Luther Adams, Become Ocean, earned the composer the Pulitzer Prize in Music in 2014, and the Seattle Symphony’s recording on the Cantaloupe label received a 2015 Grammy® Award for Best Contemporary Composition.
“Most of us these days live lives in which we’re trying to hear less, retreating into our own private aural caves,” says John Luther Adams. “In the desert we are challenged to open our ears again, to come out of our caves and listen to the never-ending music all around us.”
When comparing Become Ocean and Become Desert, Adams notes the location of the listener contributes to the atmosphere of the music. “In Become Ocean, we’re out on the water, riding the tides and the musical waves as they rise and fall. In Become Desert we are immersed, not in water but in stillness, space and light.” The 40-minute work, scored for orchestra and chorus, was inspired by Adams’ relocation from his home of nearly forty years in Alaska to his new residence in the Chilean desert, and reflects his concerns about the accelerating process of desertification in many of the world’s dry climates.
Featured Artist Jeremy Denk will join the orchestra as the piano soloist for the tour in addition to performances at Benaroya Hall as part of the Masterworks Season, Distinguished Artists series and Chamber series. Performances include Beethoven’s Fifth Piano Concerto on the Masterworks series alongside Become Desert on March 29 and 31 and Sibelius’ Second Symphony on March 30, and Kancheli’s Piano Quartet and Schnittke’s Violin Sonata No. 1 as part of the Chamber series on March 30. In addition to his Seattle Symphony tour performances of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5 in Palm Desert and Las Vegas, Denk will also host a master class for students of University of Nevada, Las Vegas on April 6 at 11 a.m. ABOUT BECOME OCEAN “Music that takes you out of yourself.” – The Los Angeles Times
John Luther Adams’ atmospheric and revolutionary piece Become Ocean was commissioned by the Seattle Symphony and received its world premiere in Seattle on June 20, 2013. The Seattle Symphony recording on Cantaloupe Records won "Best Contemporary Classical Composition" at the 2015 Grammy Awards, becoming the Seattle Symphony’s first Grammy Award. The recording was made in the Symphony’s acoustically superb Benaroya Hall using the state-of-the art in-house recording facility, supervised by audio engineer Dmitriy Lipay. John Luther Adams received a 2014 Pulitzer Prize in Music for this composition and Music Director Ludovic Morlot and the Seattle Symphony gave its east coast premiere at Carnegie Hall in Spring 2014 as part of Spring for Music.
Become Ocean is a 45-minute-long work for full orchestra. Adams borrowed the title from a verse by composer John Cage, written in honor of fellow composer Lou Harrison’s birthday. Describing Harrison’s music, Cage wrote: “Listening to it / we become / ocean.” A visionary whose life and work are deeply rooted in the natural world, Adams inscribed the following statement on the score of Become Ocean: “Life on this earth first emerged from the sea. As the polar ice melts and sea level rises, we humans find ourselves facing the prospect that once again we may quite literally become ocean.” For a brief video clip introducing Become Ocean, click here.
Become Ocean was commissioned by the Seattle Symphony with the generous support of the Lynn and Brian Grant Family.
SEATTLE PROGRAMS
SIBELIUS SYMPHONY NO. 2 DELTA AIR LINES MASTERWORKS SEASON Thursday, March 22, at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 24, at 8 p.m. Sunday, March 25, at 2 p.m.
Ludovic Morlot, conductor Seattle Symphony
SIBELIUS: The Oceanides BRITTEN: Four Sea Interludes and Passacaglia from Peter Grimes SIBELIUS: Symphony No. 2
From Sibelius’ Mediterranean nymphs to Britten’s North Sea fishermen, these aquatic scenes capture the wonder of open water. In the Second Symphony, we encounter a distinctly Finnish musical world with its gorgeous melodies and haunting nationalistic atmosphere that earned Sibelius a place on the world stage.
Pre-concert Talk presented one hour prior to each performance. Free with ticket purchase.
Tickets from $22.
JOHN LUTHER ADAMS BECOME DESERT DELTA AIR LINES MASTERWORKS SEASON Thursday, March 29, at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 31, at 8 p.m.
Ludovic Morlot, conductor Jeremy Denk, piano Seattle Symphony Chorale Seattle Symphony
BEETHOVEN: Piano Concerto No. 5, “Emperor” JOHN LUTHER ADAMS: Become Desert (World Premiere)
Jeremy Denk, one of America’s foremost pianists, performs Beethoven’s monumental “Emperor” Concerto, a work that represents a visionary composer with the insight and inspiration to understand his world and shape its future. John Luther Adams, the creator of Become Ocean, is back with the sequel to the work that took the classical music scene by storm and captured the admiration and imagination of millions. The legacy lives on in the world premiere of Become Desert.
Pre-concert Talk presented on hour prior to each performance. Following Saturday’s performance, join KUOW’s Front Row Center with Marcie Sillman, Ludovic Morlot and John Luther Adams. Both events free with ticket purchase.
Jeremy Denk’s performances are generously underwritten by Dr. Susan Detweiler, in memory of Dr. Alexander Clowes, through the Seattle Symphony’s Guest Artists Circle.
Become Desert is commissioned by the Seattle Symphony with the generous support of Dale and Leslie Chihuly.
Media Sponsor: Classical KING FM 98.1
Tickets from $22.
BEETHOVEN EMPEROR CONCERTO DELTA AIR LINES MASTERWORKS SEASON Friday, March 30, at 12 noon
Ludovic Morlot, conductor Jeremy Denk, piano Seattle Symphony
BEETHOVEN: Piano Concerto No. 5, “Emperor” SIBELIUS: Symphony No. 2
In Sibelius’ Second Symphony, we encounter a distinctly Finnish musical world with its gorgeous melodies and haunting nationalistic atmosphere that earned Sibelius a place on the world stage.
Pre-concert Talk presented one hour prior to the performance. Free with ticket purchase.
Jeremy Denk’s performances are generously underwritten by Dr. Susan Detweiler in memory of Dr. Alexander Clowes through the Seattle Symphony Guest Artists Circle.
Tickets from $22.
BEETHOVEN & KANCHELI CHAMBER SERIES Friday, March 30, at 8 p.m.
Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall
Jeremy Denk, piano Elisa Barston, violin Brittany Boudling Breeden, violin Simon James, violin Mae Lin, violin Mikhail Shmidt, violin Susan Gulkis Assadi, viola Mara Gearman, viola Sayaka Kokubo, viola Meeka Quan DiLorenzo, cello Eric Han, cello Walter Gray, cello
SMETANA: String Quartet, “From My Life” GIYA KANCHELI: Piano Quartet In l'istesso tempo SCHNITTKE: Violin Sonata No. 1 BEETHOVEN: String Quartet, Op. 18, No. 4
This breakthrough string quartet from Beethoven foreshadows his Fifth Symphony in the same fateful key of C minor. Other works from Smetana, Schnittke and Kancheli reach back in time, reflecting on nostalgia, constancy and the unyielding forces of change.
Tickets from $40.
TOUR PROGRAMS
PALM DESERT, CALIFORNIA | McCallum Theatre Presented by the Palm Springs Friends of Philharmonic Wednesday, April 4, at 7:30 p.m.
Ludovic Morlot, conductor Jeremy Denk, piano Seattle Symphony
BEETHOVEN: Piano Concerto No. 5, “Emperor” SIBELIUS: Symphony No. 2
Tickets for this concert are sold out.
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA | Artemus W. Ham Concert Hall Presented by the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Performing Arts Center Thursday, April 5, at 7:30 p.m.
Ludovic Morlot, conductor Jeremy Denk, piano Seattle Symphony
BEETHOVEN: Piano Concerto No. 5, “Emperor” SIBELIUS: Symphony No. 2
Tickets from $25.
BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA | Zellerbach Hall Presented by Cal Performances at UC Berkeley Saturday, April 7, at 8 p.m.
Ludovic Morlot, conductor Seattle Symphony
JOHN LUTHER ADAMS: Become Desert (California Premiere) SIBELIUS: Symphony No. 2
Tickets from $38.
Pre-concert talk with John Luther Adams and Matías Tarnopolsky presented one hour prior to the performance. Free with ticket purchase.
Become Desert was commissioned by the Seattle Symphony with the generous support of Dale and Leslie Chihuly.
BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA | Zellerbach Hall Presented by Cal Performances at UC Berkeley Sunday, April 8, at 3 p.m.
Ludovic Morlot, conductor Seattle Symphony
SIBELIUS: The Oceanides BRITTEN: Four Sea Interludes and Passacaglia from Peter Grimes JOHN LUTHER ADAMS: Become Ocean
Tickets from $38.
Become Ocean was commissioned by the Seattle Symphony with the generous support of the Lynn and Brian Grant Family.
RESIDENCY ACTIVITIES | UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY
OPEN REHEARSAL WITH THE SEATTLE SYMPHONY Zellerbach Hall Saturday, April 7, at 11 a.m. Open to UC Berkeley students.
DISCUSSION WITH JOHN LUTHER ADAMS Center for New Music and Audio Technologies (CNMAT), 1750 Arch Street, Berkeley Saturday, April 7, 2pm
John Luther Adams discusses site-specific work and his creative process. Free and open to the public.
TONE POEM WORKSHOP 250 Morrison Hall Sunday, April 8, at 1 p.m.
Master teaching artist Giorgia Ghizzoni leads a hands-on workshop, with composer John Luther Adams, about creating tone poems inspired by the natural environment. No previous experience required, all levels welcome. Free and open to the public but reservations are encouraged.
MASTER CLASS WITH LUDOVIC MORLOT Location t.b.a. Sunday, April 8, at 6 p.m. UC Berkeley musicians coached by Ludovic Morlot in an open rehearsal/master class. Observers are welcome.
Additional tour support provided by Alaska Airlines.
JOHN LUTHER ADAMS John Luther Adams is a composer whose life and work are deeply rooted in the natural world.
Adams was awarded the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Music for his symphonic work Become Ocean, as well as a Grammy Award for “Best Contemporary Classical Composition” (2014). Inuksuit, his outdoor work for up to 99 percussionists, is regularly performed all over the world.
Columbia University has honored Adams with the William Schuman Award “to recognize the lifetime achievement of an American composer whose works have been widely performed and generally acknowledged to be of lasting significance.”
A recipient of the Heinz Award for his contributions to raising environmental awareness, Adams has also been honored with the Nemmers Prize from Northwestern University “for melding the physical and musical worlds into a unique artistic vision that transcends stylistic boundaries.”
Born in 1953, Adams grew up in the South and in the suburbs of New York City. He studied composition with James Tenney at the California Institute of the Arts, where he was in the first graduating class (in 1973). In the mid-1970s he became active in the campaign for the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, and subsequently served as executive director of the Northern Alaska Environmental Center.
Adams has taught at Harvard University, the Oberlin Conservatory, Bennington College, and the University of Alaska. He has also served as composer in residence with the Anchorage Symphony, Anchorage Opera, Fairbanks Symphony, Arctic Chamber Orchestra, and the Alaska Public Radio Network.
The music of John Luther Adams is recorded on Cantaloupe, Cold Blue, New World, Mode, and New Albion, and his books are published by Wesleyan University Press.
JEREMY DENK Jeremy Denk is one of America’s foremost pianists. Winner of a MacArthur Genius Fellowship and the Avery Fisher Prize, Denk was recently elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Denk returns frequently to Carnegie Hall and has recently performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony and Cleveland Orchestra, as well as on tour with Academy St. Martin in the Fields and at the Royal Albert Hall this summer performing Bartók 2 in his return to
Michael Wilson the BBC Proms. Denk’s last disc for Nonesuch was his widely acclaimed recording of the Goldberg Variations, which reached No. 1 in the Classical Billboard Charts. Denk graduated from Oberlin College, Indiana University and The Juilliard School, and currently lives in New York City.
LUDOVIC MORLOT French conductor Ludovic Morlot has been Music Director of the Seattle Symphony since 2011. Among the many highlights of his tenure, the orchestra have won three Grammy Awards and gave an exhilarating performance at Carnegie Hall in 2014, as reported in The New York Times: “The performance Mr. Morlot coaxed from his players was rich with shimmering colors and tremulous energy.”
During the 2017–2018 season Morlot and the Seattle Symphony will continue on their incredible musical journey, focusing particularly on the music of Berlioz, Stravinsky and Bernstein. In addition, they will be presenting some exciting new works by John Luther Adams, Lisa Marie Mazzucco David Lang and Andrew Norman and welcoming Alexandra Gardner for a residency. The orchestra will also be performing on tour in California, including a two-day residency with Cal Performances at the University of California, Berkeley. The orchestra has many successful recordings, available on their own label, Seattle Symphony Media. A box set of music by Dutilleux was recently released to mark the 100th anniversary of the composer’s birth.
This season Morlot will be conducting at Seattle Opera for the first time (Berlioz Béatrice et Bénédict), make his debut with the Orchestra of St Luke’s and will return to the Atlanta and Houston Symphony Orchestras. He has regular relationships with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and New York and Los Angeles philharmonics. Morlot also has a particularly strong connection with the Boston Symphony Orchestra having been Seiji Ozawa Fellowship Conductor in 2001 at Tanglewood and subsequently appointed assistant conductor for the orchestra and their Music Director James Levine (2004–07). Since then he has conducted the orchestra in subscription concerts in Boston, at Tanglewood and on a tour to the west coast of America.
Outside North America, recent and future debuts include the Berliner Philharmoniker, Vienna Symphony (closing concert of the prestigious Wien Modern Festival), Yomiuri Nippon Symphony, MDR Leipzig and Bergen Philharmonic Orchestras. Morlot has conducted the London Philharmonic Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall in London and on tour in Germany. Other recent notable performances have included the Royal Concertgebouw, Czech Philharmonic, Dresden Staatskapelle, Tonhalle, Budapest Festival, Orchestre National de France, Helsinki Philharmonic, City of Birmingham Symphony, Danish National Symphony Orchestra and Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra. Morlot served as conductor in residence with the Orchestre National de Lyon under David Robertson (2002–04). Morlot was Chief Conductor of La Monnaie for three years (2012–14). During this time he conducted several new productions including La Clemenza di Tito, Jenůfa and Pelléas et Mélisande. Concert performances, both in Brussels and Aix-en-Provence, included repertoire by Beethoven, Stravinsky, Britten, Webern and Bruneau.
Trained as a violinist, Morlot studied conducting at the Royal Academy of Music in London and then at the Royal College of Music as recipient of the Norman del Mar Conducting Fellowship. Morlot was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music in 2014 in recognition of his significant contribution to music. He is Chair of Orchestral Conducting Studies at the University of Washington School of Music in Seattle.
SEATTLE SYMPHONY The Seattle Symphony is one of America's leading symphony orchestras and is internationally acclaimed for its innovative programming and extensive recording history. Under the leadership of Music Director Ludovic Morlot since September 2011, the Symphony is heard from September through July by more than 500,000 people through live performances and radio broadcasts. It performs in one of the finest modern concert halls in the world — the acoustically superb Benaroya Hall — in downtown Seattle. Its extensive education and community engagement programs reach over 65,000 children and adults each year. The Seattle Symphony has a deep commitment to new music, commissioning many works by living composers each season. The orchestra has made nearly 150 recordings and has received three Grammy Awards, 23 Grammy nominations, two Emmy Awards and numerous other accolades. In 2014 the Symphony launched its in-house recording label, Seattle Symphony Media.
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