Prophecies of Fire

Experience the New York Premiere of John Luther Adams’s Prophecies of Fire, which had its world premiere by Sandbox Percussion in 2024, and makes its New York premiere at The New School Performing Arts, where Sandbox Percussion is Ensemble-in-Residence.

“...and I come back to find / the stars misplaced, / and the smell of a world that has burned.” (Jimi Hendrix)

"My earliest musical awakening was as a drummer. From rock bands to playing timpani in a symphony orchestra, my deepest physical connections to music have been through percussion. Over the past five decades, my life’s work has led me to compose music for orchestra, string quartet, human voices, piano, electronics, and a wide variety of other media. Now, in my 70s, I’ve returned to the place where I began.

Prophecies of Fire is a perpetual acceleration canon, unbroken streams of rhythm inexorably rising in pitch and growing brighter, always seeming to get faster while never quite arriving. The musicians should surround the listeners, enveloping them in a maelstrom of tones and timbres, dynamics and velocities, like the wildfires and superstorms, the turbulent seas and waves of heat now rising all around the earth. But beyond any metaphorical associations, Prophecies of Fire is a celebration of the elemental power of sound itself to touch, to move, and perhaps even to transform human consciousness." (John Luther Adams)

For almost forty years, John Luther Adams made his home in the boreal forest of interior Alaska, where he discovered a unique musical world grounded in space, stillness, and elemental forces. In the 1970s and into the ’80s, JLA worked full-time as an environmental activist. But the time came when he felt compelled to dedicate himself entirely to music. He made this choice with the belief that, ultimately, music can do more than politics to change the world. Since that time, he has become one of the most widely admired and influential composers in the world, receiving the Pulitzer Prize, a Grammy Award, and many other honors.

In works such as Become Ocean, Become Desert, An Atlas of Deep Time, and Canticles of the Holy Wind, JLA brings the sense of wonder that we feel outdoors into the concert hall. His outdoor works such as Inuksuit, Sila: The Breath of the World, and Crossing Open Ground invite us to remember and reclaim our connections with place, wherever we may be.

Now in his 70s, JLA’s deep concern for the state of the earth and the future of humanity drives him to continue composing. As he puts it: “If we can imagine a culture and a society in which we each feel more deeply responsible for our own place in the world, then we just may be able to bring that culture and that society into being.”

Since leaving Alaska, JLA and his wife Cynthia have lived in the Sonoran Desert of Mexico, the Atacama Desert of Chile, and the Chihuahuan Desert of New Mexico. They now make their home in the Red Centre of Australia.

Described as “exhilarating” by The New York Times and “utterly mesmerizing” by The Guardian, the GRAMMY®-nominated ensemble Sandbox Percussion champions living composers through its unwavering dedication to contemporary chamber music. In 2011, Jonathan Allen, Victor Caccese, Ian Rosenbaum, and Terry Sweeney were brought together by their love of chamber music and the simple joy of playing together; they have since captivated audiences with performances that are both visually and aurally stunning. In 2024, Sandbox Percussion became the first percussion ensemble to be awarded the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant.

Presented by The New School.