Columbia University School of the Arts Announces John Luther Adams as the Newest Recipient of the William Schuman Award

Columbia University School of the Arts is pleased to announce that John Luther Adams is the newest recipient of the William Schuman Award, a major recognition given periodically over the past three decades. Named for its first recipient, the award, in the form of a direct, unrestricted grant of $50,000, is one of the largest given to an American composer.

In the language of the gift establishing the prize, the purpose of the William Schuman Award is "to recognize the lifetime achievement of an American composer whose works have been widely performed and generally acknowledged to be of lasting significance." It is awarded by the Dean of the School of the Arts at Columbia University. The award was established in 1981. Previous winners have included William Schuman, David Diamond, Gunther Schuller, Milton Babbitt, Hugo Weisgall, Steve Reich, John Zorn, and, most recently in 2010, Pauline Oliveros.

The prize will be awarded to Adams at a three-night tribute presented by Miller Theatre at Columbia University on October 7-10, 2015. The performances will showcase a trio of New York premieres: Clouds of Forgetting, Clouds of Unknowing (1991-95); In the White Silence (1998); and for Lou Harrison (2003-04). This trilogy of large-scale memorial works will be played by the JACK Quartet and the International Contemporary Ensemble, under the baton of noted conductor, percussionist, and longtime Adams collaborator Steven Schick.

"I am so excited to be able to celebrate John Luther Adams and his incredible work," saysMelissa Smey, Executive Director of Miller Theatre at Columbia University. "Working with John on the urban outdoor premiere of Inuksuit in Morningside Park was a career highlight for me. During that performance, I watched as young children, dog-walkers, new-music enthusiasts, joggers, and students all came together and stopped to listen to this amazing music in our local park. John's music connects with people from many different backgrounds, on many different levels. I can't wait to share more of it with New Yorkers."

The three pieces on the program were written in memory of three important people in Adams' life: his mother, father, and friend and mentor Lou Harrison.

John Luther Adams

www.johnlutheradams.com

John Luther Adams is a composer whose life and work are deeply rooted in the natural world. A recipient of the Heinz Award for his contributions to raising environmental awareness, he also received the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Become Ocean, a haunting orchestral work that evokes thoughts of melting polar ice and rising sea levels. The piece was performed at Carnegie Hall and recorded by the Seattle Symphony and has been nominated for a 2015 Grammy award for Best Contemporary Classical Composition.

Adams has composed for orchestra, chamber ensembles, percussion, and electronic media, and his music is heard regularly all over the world, including performances by the Chicago Symphony, the Radio Netherlands Philharmonic, the Melbourne Symphony, and the Seattle Symphony in such venues as Carnegie Hall, the Park Avenue Armory, and New York City's Morningside Park. He has taught at Harvard University, Oberlin Conservatory, Bennington College, and the University of Alaska. He has served as composer-in-residence with the Anchorage Symphony, Anchorage Opera, Fairbanks Symphony, Arctic Chamber Orchestra, and the Alaska Public Radio Network, and as president of the American Music Center.

Born in 1953, Adams grew up in the South and the suburbs of New York City. He studied composition with James Tenney and Leonard Stein at the California Institute of the Arts, where he was in the first graduating class, in 1973. A longtime Alaska resident, he and his wife recently moved into an apartment in Harlem, adjacent to Morningside Park.

About Columbia University
School of the Arts

arts.columbia.edu

Columbia University School of the Arts awards the Master of Fine Arts degree in Film, Theatre, Visual Arts and Writing and the Master of Arts degree in Film Studies, and offers an interdisciplinary program in Sound Arts. The School is a thriving, diverse community of artists from around the world with talent, vision and commitment. The faculty is composed of acclaimed and internationally renowned artists, film and theatre directors, writers of poetry, fiction and nonfiction, playwrights, producers, critics and scholars. Every year the School of the Arts presents exciting and innovative programs for the public including performances, exhibitions, screenings, symposia, a film festival, and numerous lectures, readings, panel discussions and talks with artists, writers, critics and scholars. In 2015, the School marks the 50th anniversary of its founding. For more information, visitarts.columbia.edu.

About Miller Theatre
at Columbia University

www.millertheatre.com

Miller Theatre at Columbia University is the leading presenter of new music in New York City and one of the most vital forces nationwide for innovative programming. In partnership with Columbia University School of the Arts, Miller is dedicated to producing and presenting unique events in dance, contemporary and early music, jazz, opera, and performance. Founded in 1988 with funding from John Goelet, Brooke Astor, and the Kathryn Bache Miller Fund, Miller Theatre has built a reputation for attracting new and diverse audiences to the performing arts and expanding public knowledge of contemporary music.

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