“Become Desert is both a celebration of the deserts we are given, and a lamentation of the deserts we create.” - John Luther Adams

“While Become Desert doesn’t have the easily graspable transitions of its predecessor, it is packed with moments of drama in microcosm. Over a nearly 40-minute span, those slight twists combine to create a new route toward a grand impact. [And in] one moment, a vast expanse of heartbreak is surveyed in mere seconds.” - New York Times

“Become Desert is constantly in flux. Through intricate orchestration, Adams conjures glistening shafts of light, distant rolling thunder and flickering colors refracting in the haze of desert heat. The closer one listens to this 40-minute mirage, more is revealed, perhaps even something close to enlightenment.” - Tom Huizenga, NPR Music

Co-commissioned by Seattle Symphony.
Ludovic Morlot, Music Director.
With the generous support of Leslie & Dale Chihuly.

The New York Philharmonic.
Jaap Van Zweden, Music Director.

With co-commissions from the San Diego Symphony & the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra.

Become Desert was premiered by the Seattle Symphony on March 29 & 31, 2018 in Benaroya Hall as part of the Seattle Symphony’s Delta Air Lines Masterworks Season.

Producers: Nathaniel Reichman, Dmitriy Lipay.
Recording engineers: Dmitriy Lipay, Alexander Lipay.
Mixing & mastering engineer: Nathaniel Reichman.
Surround engineers: Nathaniel Reichman, Dmitriy Lipay.

Recorded on September 25 & 26, 2018 in the S. Mark Taper Foundation Auditorium in Benaroya Hall, Seattle, WA. Edited at Tippet Rise Art Center, Fishtail MT. Mixed at Dolby Laboratories, New York, NY. Mastered at Dubway Studios, Delmar, NY.