CARNEGIE HALL PRESENTS
Orchestra of St. Luke’s

Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage
Sunday, December 13th, 2009 at 8:00 PM

Orchestra of St. Luke's
John Adams, Conductor
Dawn Upshaw, Soprano
Michelle DeYoung, Mezzo-Soprano
Eric Owens, Bass-Baritone
Daniel Bubeck, Countertenor
Brian Cummings, Countertenor
Steven Rickards, Countertenor
Westminster Symphonic Choir
Joe Miller, Conductor
The Brooklyn Youth Chorus
Dianne Berkun, Director
Mark Grey, Sound Design

JOHN ADAMS El Niño

Program is approximately 2 hours, and will be performed without intermission

Program Notes:

JOHN ADAMS (b. 1947)
El Niño

In his autobiography, Hallelujah Junction, John Adams talks about his childhood religious instruction as a New England Episcopalian, absorbing the traditional Bible stories before shifting to the Unitarian church and its “philosophical ecumenicalism.” Throughout his adolescence and college years, he tended to move away from the formal practices of any organizational church, but never lost the particular sense of wonder associated with the miracle of birth—whether it was witnessing the birth of his own children or recalling the color and brightness of the traditional Nativity story.

When the Théâtre du Châtelet asked if he would be willing to compose a work to celebrate the millennium, Adams proposed “an oratorio about birth in general and about the Nativity in specific.” At about the same time, the San Francisco Symphony requested a concert work. Adams decided to shape El Niño so it could be performed as a stage piece (with dancers, costumes, and—in the original production—a silent film projected throughout the performance) or as a concert piece only.

Director Peter Sellars, with whom Adams collaborated on all of his earlier stage productions, assisted in crafting the libretto. It tells the entire Christmas story, including most of its standard high points—the Annunciation to Mary that, though a virgin she will give birth to a son; the Star; the Magi seeking the infant by questioning the jealous Herod; the massacre of the innocents; and the family’s escape to Egypt.

But this retelling involves much more than simple narration (though there is some of that): The composer was especially eager to involve the woman’s point of view, since the Gospel accounts—composed by men—treat the actual birth experience as a dry fact rather than as one of the central mysteries of life.

Sellars drew the composer’s attention to a rich body of Mexican poetry by women, ranging from Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (1648–1695) to Rosario Castellanos (1925–1974); selected poems from these women are highlights of the oratorio. Other sources include the Nicaraguan Rubén Dario (1867–1916), the Chileans Vicente Huidobro (1893–1948), and Gabriela Mistral (1889–1957), as well as the Medieval German nun Hildegard von Bingen, anonymous early English poems, the Wakefield mystery plays, passages from Martin Luther, the King James Bible (both the Isaiah and Haggai from the Hebrew scriptures and Matthew and Luke from the New Testament), and the New Testament Apocrypha writings from about the same time as the evangelists, but which were ultimately not included in the Bible.

With this wide-ranging selection of texts, Adams and Sellars constructed a libre to in two parts, outlining the traditional Nativity story with frequent references beyond the original narrative. Part I depicts Joseph’s temporary embarrassment at finding Mary pregnant (one of the charming accounts from the apocryphal Gospel of James) and the dream that reassures him; the journey to Bethlehem; and poetic enactment of the birth and the appearance of the Star. Part II then portrays the appearance of the Magi and Herod’s duplicitous request that they inform him of the Child’s whereabouts so that he, too, may go and worship Him. When Herod learns that he has been duped, he slaughters all the children in Bethlehem in hopes of slaying the one he seeks.

Rosario Castellanos’s Memorial de Tlatelolco, sung by the soprano and chorus, recalls two earlier blood filled catastrophes. First, in 1521, Tlatelolco was the site of the last major battle between the native Aztecs and the conquistadors led by Cortés. Then, on October 2, 1968, it saw a one-sided confrontation between disaffected Mexican youth and some 5,000 Mexican police. According to government officials, 32 people died, but independent foreign observers estimated the number was actually 10 times that many, and the government suppressed reporting on the subject. Castellanos’s angry poem stands as a human response to such a slaughter, whether in Biblical Bethlehem or in the modern world.

Adams’s colorful, varied score consists of 24 separate numbers (11 in Part I, 13 in Part II), but they flow one into another, sometimes smoothly, sometimes with strong expressive disjunction. Much of the narration, and virtually all of the text conveying the words of angels, is presented by the three countertenors singing together homophonically, making the divine pronouncements sound “otherworldly” while keeping the text clearly audible. Mary is a soprano and Joseph a bass-baritone; neither is locked entirely into the drama, and both may also sing as a sympathetic observer. The soprano and mezzo jointly sing, with a slow-moving orchestral accompaniment, of the central element of the story: the actual birth of the child. Here, the poem by Rosario Castellanos depicts responses and sensations that no man can tell out of personal experience. Meanwhile, Joseph, singing words from the Gospel of James, is the man who can only wait.

The second half of El Niño opens with a moving setting of a remarkable poem from the 17th-century Mexican poet Sor Juana, gently hinting at the pains that will eventually come to this little babe. The bass baritone then sings a meditation on the dawn and on the love of a woman. It is natural to hear in this poem by Vicente Huidobro (sung in the English translation) the voice of Joseph expressing his delight in his wife and the joys of his new family.

But the tone soon turns to something far darker as the bass-baritone takes up Matthew’s narrative of Herod and the Wise Men from the east. This part of the story takes up the next five movements, leaving Herod to realize that the Magi have evaded his command. The chorus announces Herod’s murderous action, resulting in Castellanos’s dramatic indictment of the mass murder. The soprano becomes the representative of all mothers everywhere: In forceful, soaring lines, she pleads for an explanation of the horror, but also warns that seeking explanations in the official archives is useless, pronouncing: “I remember. We must remember.” Isaiah’s prophetic commentary is delivered by the chorus. Another remarkable poem by Sor Juana sets up an antiphonal response between the question Who will come to his aid? and the replies of those who argue for the power of each of the ancient elements: earth, air, fire, and water.

Finally, recalling the voyage of the family into Egypt, El Niño closes with two charming stories told by the author known as pseudo-Matthew: one of the infant Jesus standing up to dragons, the other a more familiar tale of a palm tree that obligingly bends down to offer its fruit to Jesus’s weary mother, then lifts its roots to offer a spring of water. The work ends with another poem by Castellanos—also about a palm tree—in a simple musical setting sung by the chorus against the (spoken) words of Jesus. A flash of bright musical colors (tremolo strings, bell sounds) grows and fades away, leaving the chorus to die away in quiet repetitions of the last word— poesía—to the accompaniment of a single guitar.

—Steven Ledbetter
© 2009 Steven Ledbetter

More Information:

Something different for Christmas—a grand and touching oratorio about the Nativity—written and conducted by one of our most powerful living composers. The work touches on both ancient and modern faith, and draws on a variety of sources, from Haggai and Isaiah to the Mexican poet and novelist Rosario Castellanos. “A very palpable hit,” says the BBC. “An intelligent, emotional and sometimes magical re-telling of the old, old story.”

Orchestra of St. Luke's
John Adams, Conductor
JOHN ADAMS

One of America’s most admired and respected composers, John Adams is a musician of enormous range and technical command. His many operatic and symphonic works stand out among contemporary classical compositions for their depth of expression, their sonic brilliance, and the profoundly humanist nature of their themes.

His groundbreaking compositions include Harmonielehre, Chamber Symphony, Short Ride in a Fast Machine, and the Grawemeyer Award– winning Violin Concerto, as well as the stage works Nixon in China, The Death of Klinghoffer, El Niño, and Doctor Atomic. On the Transmigration of Souls, a choral tribute to the victims of the World Trade Center attacks, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize and won three Grammy Awards, including Best Classical Contemporary Composition.

Mr. Adams is active as a conductor and as an innovative programmer. He instituted the New and Unusual Music series at the San Francisco Symphony, where he was composer in residence; served as creative chair for the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and music director of the Cabrillo Festival; and, while occupying the Richard and Barbara Debs Composer’s Chair at Carnegie Hall, established the In Your Ear festival. In the coming seasons, he serves as Creative Chair for the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Mr. Adams made his literary debut last year with a volume of memoirs and commentary on American musical life titled Hallelujah Junction (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2008).

John Adams is published by Boosey & Hawkes and Associated Music Publishers, recorded on Nonesuch, and represented as a conductor by IMG Artists.


ORCHESTRA OF ST. LUKE’S

The 2009–2010 season marks the 35th year of America’s foremost chamber orchestra, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s (OSL), a unique musical organization that comprises the orchestra, the chamber ensemble, and the arts education program. St. Luke’s currently performs approximately 100 orchestral, chamber, and educational concerts each year, all showcasing the hallmark collaborative spirit that has garnered consistent critical acclaim for vibrant music making of the highest order.

Formed at the Caramoor International Music Festival in 1979, OSL evolved from the St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble (founded in 1974), with ensemble members forming the orchestra’s artistic core as principal players. In addition to being presented by Carnegie Hall in its annual series, the orchestra continues a 20-year collaborative relationship with the Hall that includes participation in annual holiday and family concerts, concert presentations of musical theater, and special events. The orchestra is also engaged throughout the year in a number of artistic collaborations, recently with theMark Morris Dance Group and Lincoln Center. The orchestra continues to serve in residence each summer, and recently celebrated its 30th anniversary at Caramoor, its “birthplace.”

In chamber music, St. Luke’s performs annual series in three esteemed New York art institutions: the Morgan Library and Museum’s Gilder Lehrman Hall, Brooklyn Museum, and Dia:Beacon. The St. Luke’s Arts Education Program comprises free education performances and yearlong in-school residencies supported by professional development for teachers and standards-based curriculum materials, annually serving 20,000 New York City schoolchildren and their teachers.

OSL has released two critically acclaimed recordings on its own label, St. Luke’sCollection: Mozart’s Symphony No. 39 and Symphony No. 41, “Jupiter,” and Bach’s “Brandenburg” Concertos, performed by the St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble. The collection also includes Morning, Noon & Evening, featuring Haydn’s Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth symphonies; With Valour Abounding, music by Handel inspired by the Old Testament; a recording of J. S. Bach’s complete wedding cantatas titled Wedding Gifts; and a DVD of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons accompanied by animated artwork by New York City public school students. These are the most recent additions to an already stellar and extensive discography, numbering more than 70 recordings, that includes four Grammy Award–winning discs.

Dawn Upshaw, Soprano
DAWN UPSHAW

Dawn Upshaw’s acclaimed performances on the opera stage comprise the great Mozart roles— including Pamina (Die Zauberflöte), Ilia (Idomeneo), Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro), and Despina (Così fan tutte)—as well as modern works by Stravinsky, Poulenc, and Messiaen. From Salzburg, Paris, and Glyndebourne to the Metropolitan Opera, where she began her career in 1984 and has since made nearly 300 appearances, Ms. Upshaw has also championed numerous new works created for her, including The Great Gatsby by John Harbison; L’Amour de Loin and La Passion de Simone by Kaija Saariaho; John Adams’s nativity oratorio El Niño; and Osvaldo Goljjov’s chamber opera Ainadamar and song cycle Ayre.

Ms. Upshaw’s 2009–2010 season opened with festival concerts in Edinburgh, Montreux, Zurich, and the BBC Proms with David Zinman and the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich. This season she sings the world premieres of three new works written for her, including a chamber piece by David Bruce with The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center; an orchestral work by Alberto Iglesias with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, where Ms. Upshaw is an Artistic Partner; a song cycle by Osvaldo Golijov, with concerts in Amsterdam, London, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and at Carnegie Hall; and a festival celebrating the music of Louis Andriessen. In addition, she joins Gustavo Dudamel for his inaugural season with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and makes her debut with Peter Oundjian and the Toronto Symphony, among other highlights.

In 2007, Ms. Upshaw was named a Fellow of the MacArthur Foundation, the first vocal artist to be awarded the five-year “genius” grant. She is a fourtime Grammy Award winner featured on more than 50 recordings, including the million-selling Symphony No. 3 by Henryk Górecki. Ms. Upshaw is Artistic Director of the Vocal Arts Program at Bard College Conservatory of Music.

Michelle DeYoung, Mezzo-Soprano
MICHELLE DeYOUNG

Michelle DeYoung has already established herself as one of the most exciting artists of her generation. She continues to be in demand throughout the world, appearing regularly with the New York and Vienna philharmonics; the Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, Pittsburgh, and BBC symphony orchestras; the Cleveland, Philharmonia, and MET orchestras; Orchestre de Paris; Staatskapelle Berlin; and the Royal Concertgebouw. In addition, she has performed at the prestigious festivals of Ravinia, Tanglewood, Saito Kinen, Edinburgh, and Lucerne.

Equally at home on the opera stage, Ms. DeYoung has appeared at the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Los Angles Opera, Houston Grand Opera, La Scala, Bayreuth Festival, Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Opéra de Paris, and the Tokyo Opera.

Ms. DeYoung’s most recent recording is Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Bernard Haitink (CSO Resound). She won Grammy Awards for her recordings of Kindertotenlieder and Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 (SFS) and Les Troyens (LSO Live!). Other albums in her growing discography include Bernstein’s Symphony No. 1, “Jeremiah” (Chandos); Das klagende Lied (BMG); and Das Lied von der Erde (Reference Recordings). Her first solo disc was released on the EMI label.

This season, Ms. DeYoung’s many engagements include her return to the Los Angeles Opera for Achim Freyer’s complete Ring cycle, in which she sings Fricka, Waltraute, and Sieglinde; and the Staatsoper Unter den Linden for Tristan und Isolde. She also appears at Carnegie Hall with the Chicago

Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, and makes her debut at the Hollywood Bowl in a concert conducted by Gustavo Dudamel.

Eric Owens, Bass-Baritone
ERIC OWENS

Acclaimed for his commanding stage presence and inventive artistry, American bass-baritone Eric Owens has earned a unique place both as an esteemed interpreter of classic works and as a champion of new music.

In the 2009–2010 season, Mr. Owens returns to the Washington National Opera as Don Basilio in Il barbiere di Siviglia and as Porgy in Francesca Zambello’s production of Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess—a role he recently debuted to great critical acclaim at San Francisco Opera. Other engagements include John Adams’sWaltWhitman–inspired work The Wound Dresser, conducted by the composer, and holiday performances of Handel’s Messiah, both with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center; performances of Ligeti’s opera Le Grand Macabre and Beethoven’s Missa solemnis with Alan Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic; Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with Bernard Haitink and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra; and Mozart’s Requiem with James Levine and the Boston Symphony Orchestra and with Hans Graf and the Detroit Symphony.

Mr. Owens is a regular guest of the major American and European orchestras, appearing with the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony, Seattle Symphony, National Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Toronto Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony and Detroit Symphony, among others. He has worked with many leading conductors, including Sir Simon Rattle, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Lorin Maazel, Michael Tilson Thomas, Yuri Temirkanov, Christoph von Dohnányi, FranzWelser-Möst, Donald Runnicles, John Nelson, and Robert Spano. Mr. Owens is featured on two Telarc recordings with the Atlanta Symphony: Mozart’s Requiem and scenes from Strauss’s Elektra and Die Frau ohne Schatten, both under the baton of Donald Runnicles. He is featured on the Nonesuch Records release of Adams’s A Flowering Tree, as well as the Opus Arte DVD of Adams’s Doctor Atomic.

A native of Philadelphia, Mr. Owens is a graduate of Temple University and the Curtis Institute of Music. He serves on the board of trustees of both the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts and Astral Artistic Services.

Daniel Bubeck, Countertenor
DANIEL BUBECK

Daniel Bubeck has performed throughout the world as a specialist in both Baroque and contemporary music. He has appeared with the Tokyo Symphony, Royal Flanders Philharmonic, Radio Filharmonisch Orkest Holland, Indianapolis Symphony, American Bach Soloists, and Theatre of Voices under Paul Hillier, and has worked with such conductors as Esa-Pekka Salonen, Kent Nagano, Robert Spano, Kazuyoshi Akiyama, Christopher Hogwood, Nicholas McGegan, and Bruno Weil. Mr. Bubeck made his professional debut in the premiere of John Adams’s El Niño and has appeared in performances of the work worldwide, including with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Atlanta Symphony, and San Francisco Symphony, as well as at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. He can be heard on the Nonesuch recording of El Niño, as well as the Art Haus Musik DVD.

Recent performances include selections from the Philip Glass’s Akhnaten with the Los Angeles Philharmonic conducted by John Adams, and performances of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion in Princeton and San Francisco. In 2004, he sang in the American premiere of Lost Objects at the Brooklyn Academy of Music with Concerto Köln, featuring music by David Lang, Julia Wolfe, and Michael Gordon. Also that year, he appeared with the Tokyo Symphony in Hans Werner Henze’s Das verratene Meer. Upcoming engagements include the role of Guido in Handel’s Flavio with New York City Opera. Mr. Bubeck is completing his doctoral degree invoice at Indiana University.

Brian Cummings, Countertenor
BRIAN CUMMINGS

Brian Cummings studied early music at Indiana University, where he worked with Paul Elliott, Paul Hillier, and Nigel North. Equally at home performing contemporary works, Mr. Cummings made his professional debut in the world premiere of John Adams’s El Niño in Paris, and has appeared in performances of this piece throughout the world, including with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Tokyo Symphony. He performs regularly with the American Opera Theater (formerly Ignoti dei Opera), including singing the role of David in its production of Charpentier’s David et Jonathas and Iarbo in Cavalli’s Didone. He has also been soloist with the Dresdner Kreuzchor (Germany) and in theWashington and Bloomington early music festivals. Under Paul Hillier, he has sung with the Theatre of Voices and Pro Arte Singers, and can be heard on their recordings for harmonia mundi. In France, he sings with groups such as Les Arts Florissants, Opera Fuoco, Ensemble Européen William Byrd, and Ensemble Entheos. Mr. Cummings currently resides in Paris, where he studies with Guillemette Laurens.

Steven Rickards, Countertenor
STEVEN RICKARDS

Steven Rickards has sung John Adams’s El Niño with many of the leading symphony orchestras of the world, as well as on the CD and DVD productions. He has also appeared at the BBC Proms in London, New York’s Mostly Mozart Festival, Opera Company of Philadelphia, Santa Fe Opera, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, and the symphony orchestras of Tokyo, San Francisco, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, and Virginia. He has appeared with numerous period music ensembles, including Tafelmusik, Handel & Haydn Society, Chanticleer, Theatre of Voices, American Bach Soloists, Gabrieli Consort, and the New London Consort. He has sung at Carnegie Hall with the Oratorio Society of New York, and was the soloist for the US premiere of Michael Nyman’s Self-Laudatory Hymn of Inanna and Her Omnipotence at Alice Tully Hall. He has recorded for Chanticleer, Decca, Dorian, Four Winds, Gothic, harmonia mundi, Koch, Newport Classics, Smithsonian, and Teldec, and has two solo recordings on the Naxos label with lutenist Dorothy Linell. Mr. Rickards holds a doctoral degree from Florida State.

Westminster Symphonic Choir
Joe Miller, Conductor
WESTMINSTER SYMPHONIC CHOIR

Composed of students at Westminster Choir College of Rider University, the Westminster Symphonic Choir has recorded and performed with major orchestras under virtually every internationally known conductor of the last 75 years. Recognized as one of the world’s leading choral ensembles, the choir has sung more than 300 performances with the New York Philharmonic alone.

In addition to this performance, the ensemble’s 2009–2010 season includes performances of Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 with the New York Philharmonic conducted by Alan Gilbert, Bach’s Magnificat and other works with the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia conducted by Helmuth Rilling, andMahler’s Symphony No. 2, “Resurrection,” with the San Francisco Symphony conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas. The choir returns to Carnegie Hall in February to perform Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, conducted by Sir Roger Norrington.With conductor Joe Miller, the ensemble performed Brahms’s Ein deutsches Requiem with theWestminster Festival Orchestra in Newark last October, and it will perform Rachmaninoff’s Vespers and Kodaly’s Missa Brevis in Princeton this April.

Westminster Choir College is a division of Rider University’sWestminster College of the Arts, which has campuses in Princeton and Lawrenceville, New Jersey. A professional college of music with a unique choral emphasis,Westminster Choir College prepares students at the undergraduate and graduate levels for careers in teaching, sacred music, and performance.

Joe Miller is conductor of two of America’s most renowned choral ensembles: the Westminster Choir and the Westminster Symphonic Choir. As director of choral activities at Westminster Choir College of Rider University in Princeton, he oversees an extensive choral program that includes eight ensembles.

His 2009–2010 season includes collaborations with the New York Philharmonic and conductor Alan Gilbert, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s and conductors John Adams and Sir Roger Norrington, the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia and conductor Helmuth Rilling, and the San Francisco Symphony and conductor Michael Tilson Thomas. His season with theWestminster Choir includes the release of their first recording, Flower of Beauty; a concert tour of California; and their annual residency at the Spoleto Festival USA. He will also conduct theWestminster Choral Festival and theWestminster Chamber Choir program in Princeton during summer 2010.

Mr. Miller earned a master’s degree and a doctorate in choral conducting from the University of Cincinnati College–Conservatory of Music. He holds a bachelor’s degree in music education and voice from the University of Tennessee.

The Brooklyn Youth Chorus
Dianne Berkun, Director
THE BROOKLYN YOUTH CHORUS

Now in its 18th season, the Grammy Award–winning Brooklyn Youth Chorus (BYC) is one of the country’s leading children’s choruses and is the ensemble of choice for internationally renowned orchestras and artists. Under the direction of Founder and Artistic Director Dianne Berkun, BYC has an international reputation for programmatic and artistic excellence.

The BYC studies and performs a wide range ofmusic—classical and non-classical— and has an active commissioning program to develop new works across a variety of genres. It has performed with renowned artists such as Elton John, Lou Reed, John Legend, and Grizzly Bear, and has performed under the batons of Lorin Maazel, Marin Alsop, James Levine, Robert Spano, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Leon Botstein, and many others. In 2002, BYC debuted with the New York Philharmonic in John Adams’s On the Transmigration of Souls, for which the BYC won a Grammy Award.

The BYC receives its training from the Brooklyn Youth Chorus Academy, a performance-based vocal music education program serving nearly 300 students annually in five ensembles. It draws students from all over the city and reflects the broad diversity of the metropolitan area.

Dianne Berkun has prepared choruses and soloists for performances with acclaimed conductors, including Lorin Maazel, Marin Alsop, James Levine, Charles Dutoit, and Robert Spano. She prepared BYC for its 2002 debut with the New York Philharmonic in John Adams’s Pulitzer Prize–winning On the Transmigration of Souls, the recording for which the choir won its Grammy Award in 2005.

Ms. Berkun has been a guest conductor and workshop clinician for organizations such as ACDA, NYSSMA, the New York City Department of Education, the New York Philharmonic, New York University, and The Weill Music Institute at Carnegie Hall. She earned her bachelor’s degree in music education and piano from New York University, and holds a graduate diploma in the Kodály Concept from the University of Calgary.

Mark Grey, Sound Design
MARK GREY

Mark Grey made his Carnegie Hall debut as a composer with Kronos Quartet in 2003. His music has been performed at the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall, Théâtre de la Ville (Paris), Barbican Centre (London), Het Muziektheater (Amsterdam), Zankel Hall, Philharmonie Hall (Warsaw), UNESCO Palacio de Bellas Artes (Mexico City), and Royce Hall (Los Angeles), as well as at the Ravinia, Cabrillo, Colorado, OtherMinds, Perth International, and Spoleto festivals.

Mr. Grey was composer in residence for the 2007–2008 season at the Phoenix Symphony, which premiered his oratorio Enemy Slayer: A Navajo Oratorio in February 2008. In addition, Mr. Grey’s works have been performed by such artists as conductors Marin Alsop and Michael Christie, violinists Leila Josefowicz and Piotr Szewczyk, former Kronos Quartet cellist Joan Jeanrenaud, and the Paul Dresher Ensemble. He was commissioned to write a new work for the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Minimalist Jukebox festival in March 2006.

In addition to collaborating with John Adams on his Pulitzer Prize–winning work On the Transmigration of Souls, Mr. Grey has also served as sound designer on projects for the New York Philharmonic (at Avery Fisher Hall in 2002), Lyric Opera of Chicago (2007), and the Metropolitan Opera (for Adams’s Doctor Atomic in October 2008). He has also premiered major opera and concert works worldwide for Philip Glass, Steve Reich, Terry Riley, and Kronos Quartet, among numerous other artists.

Mr. Grey earned degrees in composition and electro-acoustic music from the California State University at San Jose.