A large screen showcases a collage of portraits, including John Adams.

The John Adams Almanac

  • Classical Music
  • Australian Chamber Orchestra
  • Concert Hall
  • Run time: 120 minutes Subject to change
  • Seating map

Music is a living tradition in this specially curated celebration from one of the world’s great composers

In 1971, John Adams packed his life into a car and drove to California. The West Coast opened something in him; the light, the landscape, the sense that sound could be vast and connected to place. 

In his 80th-birthday year, the Australian Chamber Orchestra celebrates John Adams with a special program curated by Adams and Richard Tognetti – two artists and musical friends who share an instinct for risk and pushing music forward into the unknown.

Shaker Loops announced John Adams to the world. It reaches for something primal and urgent – oscillating strings, trembling bows, the ecstatic repetition of a religious sect who shook and danced their way to transcendence. Shaker Loops marked the arrival of a major voice and feels as groundbreaking today as it did 50 years ago.

The centrepiece of the program is the world premiere of Gioia, Adams’s only new work in his anniversary year, written especially for Tognetti and the Australian Chamber Orchestra Principal Violin Satu Vänskä. Two solo violins set against the full Australian Chamber Orchestra, in the tradition of the concerto grosso: music that circulates freely, with soloists and orchestra in charged, fluid dialogue. A gift from a composer at the height of his powers to musicians he deeply admires.

Joining the Australian Chamber Orchestra is pianist and composer Timo Andres – a regular collaborator of Adams and a vital force in American music. Andres will perform a new work commissioned by the Australian Chamber Orchestra alongside his arrangement of Flow by Ingram Marshall, a dear friend of Adams and a composer who first lit the way for Andres.

This is music as living tradition, brought to life by Richard Tognetti and the Australian Chamber Orchestra.

Presented by The Australian Chamber Orchestra

Event details

Adams is one of those contemporary voices we all need to hear and keep hearing… it’s the sound and shimmer of Shaker Loops that will make you fall for this music.

The Guardian

Program

Ludwig van Beethoven (arr. strings) Grosse Fuge, Op.133

Ingram Marshall (arr. Timo Andres) Flow

John Adams Gioia* (World Premiere)

Timo Andres New Work* (World Premiere)

Adams Shaker Loops

*Commissioned by the Australian Chamber Orchestra through the generous support of David Thomas AM

Artists

Director & Violin Richard Tognetti 

Piano Timo Andres 

Violin Satu Vänskä 

Guest Curator John Adams 

Australian Chamber Orchestra

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Plan your visit

Address

Sydney Opera House
Bennelong Point
Sydney NSW 2000
Australia

Getting to the venue

The Opera House is a 7-10 minute walk from Circular Quay, and is easily accessible by car, train, ferry, lightrail, bus, bike and on foot.

Location and access

Concert Hall

The Concert Hall is located beneath the largest of Sydney Opera House’s roof sails, filling the upper levels of the west side of the building. Best accessed through the covered concourse. 

All Sydney Opera House foyers are accessible, with lifts to the main and western foyers. The public lift to all foyers is accessible from the corridor near the escalators on the Lower Concourse and also in the Western Foyer via the corridor on the Ground Level (at the top of the escalators).

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