Presented as part of the 2018 College Music Society National Conference
Coordinator: Michael Harley (University of South Carolina)
Perhaps no other composer is so intimately associated with the Pacific Northwest as Pulitzer honoree John Luther Adams. Adams spent the bulk of his compositional career in Alaska and is best-known for music inspired by the natural beauty of the region. The themes, both explicit and implicit, of 10,000 Birds — our connection with the natural world, the relationship of music and nature, the current debate about global warming and our impact on the environment — are directly relevant to the times in which we live as well as city so intimately associated with the beauty of its many parks, waterfront, and the surrounding region.