John Adams is widely acknowledged as America’s preeminent contemporary composer, the creator of orchestral works heard every year and of epic operas like Nixon in China. Also a seasoned conductor, he returns to the NY Phil podium for the first time in 20 years, leading subscription concerts and curating a Sound On. Adams, at 77, has a youthful bearing that reflects his continuing curiosity and desire for discovery. We spoke with him in August.

What does the name “New York Philharmonic” mean to you?
John Adams: Since watching the Young People’s Concerts as a child, I’ve always associated it with a sense of excitement and awe, of being on the leading edge. Then, there’s my great affection for the Philharmonic from having worked with it. I conducted an all-Aaron Copland concert in 1999, and I’ve had world premieres there. 

My violin concerto, Scheherazade 2, in 2015. In 2004 I conducted Easter Eve 1945, with Audra McDonald, which later evolved into a scene in my opera Dr. Atomic. On the Transmigration of Souls [which received the Pulitzer Prize in Music and three Grammy Awards] was a very moving experience — the research, going to Ground Zero, and having the families of victims at the premiere. I took it as a great honor that Jaap [van Zweden, then the NY Phil Music Director] put a piece of mine, My Father Knew Charles Ives, on the very first [subscription] program performed in David Geffen Hall [in October 2022] after the renovation. It was a terrific performance, and I really love the sound of the new hall. I’ve only conducted here once since, with the Juilliard Orchestra, but I could already tell it is a totally different experience from the old barn.

Can you share the thoughts behind the repertoire in your subscription concerts, November 14 and 16?
I wanted to conduct my piece City Noir because I think the New York Philharmonic will just eat it up, particularly the principal players. I’m looking forward to hearing Joe Alessi play the big trombone solo, and Chris Martin playing the big trumpet solo.

I also wanted to conduct a work by Gabriella Smith, who’s from Berkeley, California (where I also live). She’s one of the most exciting composers anywhere. She started writing Lost Coast by jamming with the brilliant cellist Gabriel Cabezas, in a studio, and then writing a lot of those gestures and ideas into the piece. It’s very virtuosic, but like all her music, it has a connection with the environment. There’s a passage where the solo cello is answered by the principal cellist, in this case Carter [Brey], who was Gabriel’s teacher!

I knew Copland a little. As an American composer he, along with Charles Ives, is sort of my musical godfather. His Quiet City leads well into City Noir — a quiet, reflective piece followed by a barn burner. Arvo Pärt is one of the great composers of our time. I wanted to open the concert with a piece with a quiet, reserved atmosphere and a ritualistic feel that leads into the high energy of the start of Gabriella’s piece.

Let’s go back to City Noir. What does this piece mean to you?
I came of age in the period that we now call High Modernism, and the creative journey of my life has been breaking free of that and embracing my musical DNA, which of course, being an American, has roots in popular music, including jazz and rock. It was a hard win to get to that point of freedom. City Noir is an expression of that.

Can you tell us about the composers (other than you) whose music is on the Sound On concert at The Museum of Modern Art, November 17?
There are four very original composers from a younger generation. I’ve already spoken about Gabriella. Dylan Mattingly, who’s also from Berkeley, just made news with a six-hour opera performed by the LA Phil. Anthony Cheung, who’s from San Francisco, is an elegant composer who writes brilliantly for instruments. His piece, along with Andrew Norman’s, came from a project I’m involved in with the LA Phil, commissioning an étude for every principal in that orchestra. These two programs could be seen as risky, but the NY Phil thrives on this music. This orchestra has performed a great deal of challenging and provocative new music, and has led the charge in presenting music by women and composers of color. It’s a terrific orchestra, and I’m really thrilled to come back.