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The John Adams Reader

22nd August 2006

The John Adams Reader
John Adams — often called America's "composer laureate" — is the subject of Thomas May's new book The John Adams Reader: Essential Writings on an American Composer. Published by Amadeus Press, May's volume is the first full-length English-language collection devoted to Adams's life and works. Filled with lively and colorful essays by leading music critics and commentators including Michael Steinberg, Alex Ross, Alan Rich, and Mark Swed, the book also includes insights from collaborators and friends such as director Peter Sellars, conductor Robert Spano, composer Ingram Marshall, pianist Emmanuel Ax, and soprano Dawn Upshaw.

Observes May, Adams "has made a point of pressing buttons or tackling 'difficult issues'....The John Adams Reader traces the evolution of an artist who has never ceased to take on a new challenge."