CARNEGIE HALL PRESENTS
Three Generations: John Adams and Terry Riley
Part of Three Generations, curated by Steve Reich.
Performers
Ensemble Signal
Brad Lubman, Conductor
Program
JOHN ADAMS Shaker Loops
TERRY RILEY In C (original version)
Performance includes a discussion with Steve Reich and John Adams
Event Duration
The printed program will last approximately 70 minutes without intermission, followed by a discussion with Steve Reich and John Adams.Public support for Three Generations is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts.
Steve Reich is the holder of the 2016–2017 Richard and Barbara Debs Composer's Chair at Carnegie Hall.
Three Generations: Changing the Direction of Concert Music
The first generation to initiate those changes are now in their 70s or 80s and include Terry Riley, Steve Reich, Philip Glass, Arvo Pärt, and John Adams. The music of these composers then interested a younger generation now approaching their 60s, including Michael Gordon, David Lang, and Julia Wolfe, who formed the Bang on a Can collective. In turn, a still younger generation, now approaching their 40s, took up both of these earlier generations and carried all these ideas even further. This very large generation is represented here by Bryce Dessner and Nico Muhly.
In addition to the performance of their music by several outstanding ensembles—including Ensemble Signal, Bang on a Can All-Stars, and the JACK Quartet—many of these composers will discuss their music after the concerts.
—Steve Reich
Bios
Ensemble Signal
Ensemble Signal is a New York-based ensemble dedicated to offering the broadest possible
audience access to a diverse range of contemporary works through performance,
commissioning, recording, and education. Since its debut in 2008, the ensemble has
performed more than 150 concerts; has given the New York, world, or US premieres of over 20
works; and co-produced nine recordings.
Signal was founded by Co-Artistic / Executive Director Lauren Radnofsky and
Co-Artistic Director / Conductor Brad Lubman, featuring a super-group of independent
artists from the modern music scene. The ensemble's passion for the diverse range of music
being written today is a driving force behind its projects. Signal's repertoire ranges from
minimalism or pop-influenced to the iconoclastic European avant-garde. Signal is flexible
in size and instrumentation--everything from solo to large ensemble and opera, including
film or multimedia, in any possible combination--which enables it to meet the ever-changing
demands on the 21st century performing ensemble.
Signal has appeared at concert halls and international festivals, including the Lincoln
Center Festival, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Big Ears Festival, Carnegie Hall, Cal
Performances, Tanglewood's Festival of Contemporary Music, Ojai Music Festival, and Bang on
a Can Marathon. The ensemble regularly works directly with nearly all the composers whose
works it performs in order to offer the most authentic interpretations, including Steve
Reich, Helmut Lachenmann, Michael Gordon, David Lang, Julia Wolfe, Hans Abrahamsen, and
Charles Wuorinen.
Last fall, Ensemble Signal gave the world premiere of Reich's Runner. Their
recording of his Music for 18 Musicians (harmonia mundi) received a
Diapason d'Or and appeared on the Billboard Classical Crossover chart.
The ensemble's educational activities include community outreach programs in diverse
settings, as well as workshops with the next generation of composers and performers at
institutions that include the University at Buffalo's Center for 21st Century Music, where
Signal is a resident ensemble.
Brad Lubman
Conductor and composer Brad Lubman is founding co-artistic and music director of Ensemble
Signal. He is one of the foremost conductors of modern music and a leading figure in the
field for more than two decades. A frequent guest conductor of the world's most
distinguished orchestras and new-music ensembles, he has gained widespread recognition for
his versatility, commanding technique, and insightful interpretations. His flexibility in a
variety of settings has led him to conduct a broad range of repertoire from classical to
contemporary works. He has led major orchestras, including the Royal Concertgebouw
Orchestra, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco
Symphony, NDR Sinfonieorchester, Dresden Philharmonic, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester
Berlin, Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra, WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne, Orchestre
Philharmonique de Radio France, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Netherlands Radio
Chamber Philharmonic, and National Symphony Orchestra. In addition, he has worked
with some of the most important ensembles for contemporary music, including London
Sinfonietta, Ensemble Modern, Klangforum Wien, Ensemble Musikfabrik, and Steve Reich and
Musicians. His own music has been performed in the United States and Europe, and can be
heard on his CD, Insomniac (Tzadik). Brad Lubman is on faculty at the Eastman
School of Music and the Bang on a Can Summer Institute.