John Adams/Rhythmic Lines

Rhythm is as ancient as human culture, and after all these years, composers are still finding new ways to express themselves with it. John Adams traces the evolution of 20th- and 21st-century rhythmic-based experimental music in a program he conducts. Following the premiere of his entry in our ongoing LA Phil Etudes series, he leads the New Music Group in John Cage’s gamelan-inspired piece for metal percussion and Lou Harrison’s jubilant Organ Concerto. Composer and pianist Conrad Tao’s Pacific 88 is paired with a new work by Wang Lu, and the evening concludes with a new piece by multidimensional composer and Pulitzer Prize for Music finalist Jlin.