TEN THOUSAND BIRDS
Events
Ten Thousand Birds is based on the songs of birds that are native to or passing through the region where the work is performed. Once again, John Luther Adams seeks a musical connection to nature, a central theme throughout his work. The focus is on the subtle details of birdsong. Time is not measured; each page of the score forms a self-contained world with its own space and time. The music unfolds alongside projections of the drawings by the renowned American ornithologist John J. Audubon and their visual and spatial transformation by Frankfurt-based artist Béatrice Steimer, incorporating short film portraits of all the participating musicians from Alarm Will Sound (GRAMMY 2026). At the end, the boundaries between experiencing music and nature open up, and the Naxos Hallenkonzert moves outdoors.
The evening concludes in the foyer with a modular synthesizer set by sound artist Matthew Ryals from New York City.
Program
John Luther Adams | *1953
Ten Thousand Birds | 2014
Béatrice Steimer
Video sculptures & live drawings projected from: John J. Audubon – The Birds of America | 2026 ✶
Matthew Ryals
Solo-Set for modular synthesizer | 2025/26
✶ Commissioned by the Naxos Hallenkonzerte
€10–30
Students, school students, fgnm e.V.
€5
With the kind support of the Hessian Ministry of Higher Education, Research, Science and the Arts, the Cultural Office of the City of Frankfurt am Main, Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain, the Hessian Ministry for Digitalization and Innovation