John Luther Adams

A Musical Friendship: John Luther Adams and Mark Morris

Jul 28th 2025

Mark Morris and I became friends through our mutual love for the music and the person of the marvelous Lou Harrison. I think Lou would be delighted that Mark has made new dance to my music. And I know that I am.

John Luther Adams reflects on his "Five Yup’ik Dances" and "Five Athabascan Dances," now the basis of a new dance by Mark Morris, "Northwest," in this interview with Marina Harss.

Read the interview.

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His music perfectly echoes the landscape he loves: impersonal, relentless, larger than human scale, yet gorgeous, a quiet chaos of colors, suffused with light. It’s not a climate everyone could live in. But for those who want to bathe their ears in an aural aurora borealis while staying warm inside, it’s a spiritual odyssey well worth taking. - Kyle Gann

john luther adams

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