Big Ears Festival & Knoxville Botanical Garden and Arboretum Presents John Luther Adams ‘Inuksuit’
Big Ears Festival and Knoxville Botanical Garden and Arboretum will present Pulitzer Prize-winning composer John Luther Adams’ seminal outdoor piece “Inuksuit,” featuring the acclaimed, Knoxville-based, contemporary music ensemble, Nief-Norf. Two identical performances will be held at 2 and 5 p.m. and will feature about 25 musicians widely dispersed throughout the upper meadow at the gardens, so audiences can enjoy the experience while social distancing. People can attend one performance or both. Masking and social distancing protocols should be observed for the safety of musicians and attendees.
The concert will open with Yaz Lancaster’s 2019 composition, “Sequoia,” with musicians performing on an array of ceramic flower pots. The work is a paean to the mighty endangered sequoias and a plea to interact with the natural world with greater grace. “Inuksuit” has been described by The New York Times as “the ultimate environmental piece,” while The New Yorker’s Alex Ross hailed it as “one of the most rapturous experiences of my listening life.