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John Adams

(b. Worcester, MA, 15 Feb 1947),

American composer. He studied at Harvard with Kirchner, Kim, Del Tredici and Sessions, and in 1972 began teaching at the San Francisco Conservatory. He became interested in electronics (Onyx, 1976), then, influenced by Reich, turned to minimalism. His works, in an elegant minimalist style, include Shaker Loops for strings (1978), Harmonium for orchestra with choir (1981), the exuberant, parodistic Grand Pianola Music (1982), the opera Nixon in China (1987), a summary of his musical languages over ten years and a violin concerto (1994). His second opera, The Death of Klinghoffer (1991), is again based on recent events; the story unfolds in meditations and narratives, punctuated by choruses, rather than in action.