Composer John Adams kicks off an extensive residency with the Orquesta y Coro Nacionales de España in Madrid. The residency, titled Carta Blanca a John Adams, features performances of his Absolute Jest, Harmonielehre, American Berserk, China Gates, Phrygian Gates, Shaker Loops, John’s Book of Alleged Dances, String Quartet, Slonimsky’s Earbox, and Doctor Atomic Symphony; talks with the composer; a guest appearance by Jeremy Denk; film screenings of The Death of Klinghoffer and I Am Love; and a collaborative session with area students.

John Adams's 1991 opera The Death of Klinghoffer will receive its Metropolitan Opera premiere on October 20, 2014, the first of eight performances during the Met's 2014–15 season. This is the third Adams work to be staged at the Met, following Doctor Atomic and Nixon in China. The production is directed by Tom Morris (War Horse), with David Robertson conducting and baritone Paulo Szot in the leading role.

The Barbican's 2014 marathon weekend, May 17 and 18, will celebrate Nonesuch Records in the label's 50th anniversary year. Entitled Explorations: The Sound of Nonesuch Records, this curated weekend of events includes five concerts taking place in LSO St Luke's, Guildhall School's new Milton Court Concert Hall, and the Barbican Hall, with performances from Jonny Greenwood, Kronos Quartet, Brad Mehldau, Timo Andres, Sam Amidon, Natalie Merchant, Rhiannon Giddens, Olivia Chaney, and others performing works by Greenwood, Mehldau, Andres, Steve Reich, John Adams, Philip Glass, Frederic Rzewski, Henryk Górecki, Donnacha Dennehy, and more. Satellite events will include Kronos at 40 (May 13) and Jeremy Denk (May 24) with further events to be announced.

John Adams’s Saxophone Concerto received its US premiere over the weekend, with Marin Alsop conducting the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and saxophonist Timothy McAllister, for whom the "virtuosic piece" (Washington Post) was written. The Baltimore Sun says "the score deftly fuses classical and jazz elements to create a cohesive, arresting experience ... Adams, whose style has evolved over the decades from pristine minimalism to a kind of post-Mahler richness of thematic ideas and orchestral textures, has created here a kinetic, ecstatic ride that achieves giddy heights along the way." McAllister performs the Saxophone Concerto with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra on October 5 and 6.

John Adams makes his first-ever Australian concert appearances with programs titled Adams Conducts Adams in Sydney and Melbourne. Marking his Sydney Opera House debut as conductor, Adams leads the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and saxophonist Timothy McAllister in the world premiere of his Saxophone Concerto on Thursday and Friday. Also on the program are Adams’s Violin Concerto performed by Leila Josefowicz and works by Beethoven and Respighi. Adams heads next to Melbourne to conduct the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in an all-Adams program at Hamer Hall August 29 and 31 featuring the Australian premiere of City Noir and performances of his Violin Concerto and Short Ride in a Fast Machine.

Congratulations to composer John Adams, who received an honorary degree from Yale University at the school's 312th Commencement held in New Haven yesterday. Adams' fellow honorees include Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor and author Edwidge Danticat (seated in the photo with Adams). "You have pushed the boundaries of music, layering sound upon sound, playing with silence and speech and song, extending minimalism," read the citation honoring Adams. "Creating symphonies, choral works, concerti, and historical operas, your compositions have comforted and confronted, amused and amazed, challenged and transformed."

American Master: A Portrait of John Adams, a new film documentary about composer John Adams by Mark Kidel, will be broadcast for the first time on BBC4 TV on Friday, March 8, at 8 PM. The film, which offers a journey through the musical landscapes of the composer, will be repeated on BBC HD on March 15. The film will also be screened at the Barbican in London on March 16 as a prelude to the European premiere of Adams's The Gospel According to the Other Mary with the LA Philharmonic conducted by Gustavo Dudamel. Watch an excerpt from the film here.

Nonesuch Records returns to Powell Hall in St. Louis this weekend to record the St. Louis Symphony's performances of John Adams's City Noir, February 15 and 16. John Adams will be in attendance for the recording. The Saturday evening performance will be broadcast live on St. Louis Public Radio, 90.7-KWMU, streaming at stlpublicradio.org. Nonesuch will be back in Powell Hall in October to record a new John Adams concerto written for saxophone. The concerto and City Noir will combined and released by Nonesuch Records at a future date.

Last summer, John Adams’s Harmonielehre was performed in a disused multi-story car park at the Peckham Rye train station in London by a group of young musicians from the UK known as TROSP, The Rite of Spring Project orchestra, led by conductor Chris Stark. A short video of the event was captured by Joanna Beaufoy; watch it here. 

The Metropolitan Opera’s performance of John Adams’ Nixon in China, with the composer conducting, is now available on Blu-ray and DVD together in one package from Nonesuch Records. The Met’s production, staged by Adams’ longtime collaborator Peter Sellars, stars James Maddalena as Richard Nixon. Nixon in China was recorded and broadcast live in movie theaters around the world as a part of The Met: Live in HD on February 12, 2011—10 days after the opera received its Met premiere.The San Jose Mercury News features the Blu-ray/DVD in its holiday Gift Guide, calling Adams' score "multigeared and multicolored, transforming like a kaleidoscopic engine."

Nonesuch Records releases the Metropolitan Opera’s performance of John Adams’ Nixon in China, with the composer conducting, on Blu-ray and DVD together in one package on November 19, 2012; pre-order now. The Met’s production, staged by Peter Sellars, stars James Maddalena as Richard Nixon, a role he created at the opera’s world premiere 25 years ago and has since performed at international leading opera houses. Nixon in China was recorded and broadcast live in movie theaters around the world as part of The Met: Live in HD on February 12, 2011—10 days after the opera received its Met premiere.

John Adams has been selected as BBC Radio 3’s Composer of the Week. All week, the program is presenting interviews with Adams along with illustrative examples of music from Nonesuch recordings throughout his career, from 1973's Christian Zeal & Activity to his 2008 String Quartet, as heard on his latest Nonesuch album. Adams also conducts his opera Nixon in China live from Royal Albert Hall on BBC Radio 3 for Prom 72 on Wednesday.