John Luther Adams

John Luther Adams (born January 23, 1953) is an American composer. His history of environmental activism informs his music. His orchestral work Become Ocean was awarded the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Music. Early life Born in Meridian, Mississippi, Adams began playing music as a teenager as a drummer in rock bands. He attended the California Institute of the Arts as an undergraduate in the early 1970s, studying with James Tenney and Leonard Stein, and graduated in 1973. After graduating, Adams began work in environmental protection, and through this work Adams first travelled to Alaska in 1975. Adams moved to Alaska in 1978 and lived there until 2014. He subsequently divided his time between New York and the Sonoran desert in Mexico, though his time in Alaska continues to be a prominent influence in his music. From 1982 to 1989, he performed as timpanist and principal percussionist with the Fairbanks Symphony Orchestra and the Arctic Chamber Orchestra. Since January 2024, Adams and his wife now reside in Australia. Career Adams’s composition work spans many genres and media. He has composed for television, film, children’s theater, voice, acoustic instruments, orchestra, and electroni