Samuel Adams (composer)

For other people named Samuel Adams, see Samuel Adams (disambiguation).

Samuel Adams (born December 30, 1985) is an American composer. He was born in San Francisco, California. He is a recipient of a 2019 Guggenheim Fellowship.

Samuel Adams
Background information
Birth name	Samuel Carl Adams
Born	(1985-12-30) December 30, 1985 (age 39)
Origin	San Francisco, California, United States
Genres	Contemporary classical, electronic, electroacoustic
Occupations	Composer, sound designer, double bassist
Years active	2010–present
Website	www.samuelcarladams.com
Awards: John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship, 2019

Life and career

Adams grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he performed double bass and studied composition and electroacoustics at Stanford University; he later studied with Martin Bresnick. His music draws on his experiences in a diverse array of disciplines including classical forms, microsound, noise, improvised music and field recording.^[1]

Adams has received commissions from New World Symphony, San Francisco Symphony,^[2][3][4] Carnegie Hall, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and has collaborated with performers such as Emanuel Ax, Sarah Cahill, Karen Gomyo, Jennifer Koh, Anthony Marwood, Joyce Yang and conductors such as David Robertson, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Karina Canellakis, and Michael Tilson Thomas. Adams served as one of Chicago Symphony Orchestra's two composers-in-residence, having been jointly named to the post with Elizabeth Ogonek in 2015,^[5] and in 2021 was named composer-in-residence with the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.^[6]

He is the son of composer John Adams and photographer Deborah O'Grady.^[7]

Notable works

Orchestral and Large Ensemble Works

• Drift and Providence (2012)
• Violin Concerto (2013)
• Radial Play (2014)^[8]
• many words of love (2016)^[9]
• Chamber Concerto (2017)
• Movements (for Us and Them) (Concerto Grosso) (2018)
• Variations (2020)
• Echo Transcriptions (2022)
• No Such Spring (2021-2022)
• Eden Interstates (2023)
• Arches (2024)

Chamber works

• Tension Studies for electric guitar, percussion, and electronics (2010 - 2011)
• Quintet with Pillars (2018)
• Violin Diptych (2020)^[10]
• Sundial (2021)
• Berceuse (2023)
• Lighthouse (2024)

String Quartets

• String Quartet in Five Movements (2013)
• Quartet Movement (2016)
• Second String Quartet (Current) (2016-2019)
• Third String Quartet (Alma) (2024)

Solo works

• Shade Studies (2014)
• Impromptus (2015)
• Sonatas (2016)
• Violin Diptych (2020)
• Etudes (2023)

Multimedia works

• Lyra (2018-2020)
• Playing Changes (2020-2021)

Discography

• Current (Other Minds Records, 2023)
• Lyra (Earthy Records, 2022)
• Movements (for us and them) (ACO Originals, 2020)

See also

• 21st-century classical music
• Electroacoustic music
• Composers
• jazz bassists