In the video above, recorded the week before Doctor Atomic opened at the Metropolitan Opera, composer John Adams reflects on the relationship between words and music in a conversation with Ara Guzelimian, dean of the Juilliard School. The talk was part of the Y’s Words & Music Series. The evening also featured musical illustrations by mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke, baritone Jordan Shanahan and pianist Linda Hall.
Throughout his career, Adams has drawn on literary sources ranging from the Bible to Jack Kerouac; Doctor Atomic incorporates Baudelaire, the Bhagavad Gita and declassified documents from the Manhattan Project. His new memoir, Hallelujah Junction: Composing an American Life, was recently reviewed in the New York Times.
