| Leila Josefowicz crystallizes her affinity for new | | | | Josefowicz performs this work not on her |
| music whenever she performs "The Dharma At | | | | magnificent Del Gesu violin dated 1724, but on the |
| Big Sur" with its composer, John Adams, on the | | | | six-string instrument with amplification from a |
| podium. She recently revisited the work with | | | | mixing board in the auditorium. She explained that |
| Adams conducting the National Symphony | | | | it took a long time to adapt to an instrument with |
| Orchestra during the Kennedy Center series "John | | | | six strings that go down in fifths. |
| Adams: Perspectives." Also on the program were | | | | "You end up playing in the cello range and that's a |
| his "Dr. Atomic Symphony," along with Benjamin | | | | real blast," she said. "John's work has a very |
| Britten's Four Sea Interludes from "Peter Grimes" | | | | Eastern sound and a lot of other unusual things |
| and Igor Stravinsky's "Feu d'artifice." | | | | that come together. Even though there are big |
| Both Josefowicz and Adams are major | | | | risks involved, it's a real joy to play. John is all |
| contributors to 21st Century music. She is the | | | | about breaking the mold and putting on a |
| recipient of a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship for | | | | stampede of elephants." |
| her advocacy and passionate commitment to | | | | Josefowicz and Adams have performed "The |
| contemporary music. Adams, regarded as one of | | | | Dharma at Big Sur" throughout the world. Because |
| America's most original composers, has produced | | | | the electric violin requires an expert sound |
| both opera and symphonic scores that pique the | | | | athority, she always takes along a world class |
| senses. His operas "Nixon in China," "The Death of | | | | sound designer she trusts who works at the back |
| Klinghoffer" and "Doctor Atomic" draw on | | | | of the hall. |
| contemporary individuals and events, while | | | | Adams is but one of the many contemporary |
| California's rugged coastline is the focus of "The | | | | composers who admires Josefowicz's virtuosity. |
| Dharma at Big Sur," a reference to the teachings | | | | Among the commissions dedicated to her, she |
| of the Buddha that Jack Kerouac and his fellow | | | | recently premiered "Beautiful Passing" by Steve |
| Beat poets incorporated into their writing. | | | | Mackey, Colin Matthews' Violin Concerto and |
| His goal in composing it for the opening of Disney | | | | Esa-Pekka Salonen's high octane Violin Concerto |
| Hall in Los Angeles was to express the feelings of | | | | for the auspicious occasion of his final concert |
| a newcomer to the Pacific Coast, as he had been | | | | with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. For the next |
| four decades earlier. During the Kennedy Center | | | | few years, the two will take it worldwide, |
| concert, I recognized, one by one, the musical | | | | beginning in June with the New York City Ballet. |
| references he incorporated from many different | | | | Meanwhile, whenever the opportunity arises, she |
| cultures. They are the themes of newcomers | | | | will join Adams on stage for "The Dharma at Big |
| from many climes who have emigrated to | | | | Sur." She says that it remains one of her favorite |
| California and adopted it as their home. The final | | | | works for its great contrasts, extensive musical |
| notes exploding from the electric violin illuminate | | | | vocabulary, and the thrill of knowing that people |
| the shock the new arrival must feel upon viewing | | | | will come to hear her perform something so new |
| the thundering ocean at Big Sur. | | | | and different. |