Editing John Adams (composer) (section)

===Youth and early career===
John Coolidge Adams was born in [[Worcester, Massachusetts]], on February 15, 1947.<ref name=WarrackWest>{{harvnb|Warrack|West|1992|p=4}}</ref> As an adolescent, he lived in [[Woodstock, Vermont]], for five years before moving to [[Concord, New Hampshire|East Concord, New Hampshire]],<ref>{{harvnb|Adams|2008|pp=9–11}}</ref> and his family spent summers on the shores of [[Lake Winnipesaukee]], where his grandfather ran a dance hall. Adams's family did not own a television, and did not have a record player until he was ten. But both his parents were musicians, his mother a singer with big bands, and his father a clarinetist.<ref>{{harvnb|Ross|2007|pp=583}}</ref> He grew up with [[jazz]], Americana, and [[Broadway musicals]], once meeting [[Duke Ellington]] at his grandfather's dance hall.<ref name=":9">{{harvnb|Ross|2007|pp=583–584}}</ref> Adams also played [[baseball]] as a boy.<ref name=":8">{{Cite web|title=Adams, John|url=https://www.sfcv.org/learn/composer-gallery/adams-john|access-date=September 3, 2020|website=San Francisco Classical Voice|archive-date=September 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200928092952/https://www.sfcv.org/learn/composer-gallery/adams-john|url-status=live}}</ref>

In the third grade, Adams took up the clarinet, initially taking lessons from his father, Carl Adams, and later with [[Boston Symphony Orchestra]] bass clarinetist Felix Viscuglia. He also played in various local orchestras, concert bands, and marching bands while a student.<ref name=":4">{{harvnb|Adams|2008|pp=14–21}}</ref><ref name=":6">{{Cite web|last1=Willis|first1=Sarah|last2=Adams|first2=John|date=September 17, 2016|title=John Adams in conversation with Sarah Willis|url=https://www.digitalconcerthall.com/en/interview/23436-3|access-date=September 2, 2020|website=Digital Concert Hall}}</ref> Adams began composing at age ten and first heard his music performed as a teenager.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Adams|first=John|title=John Adams Biography|url=https://www.earbox.com/john-adams-biography/|access-date=September 3, 2020|website=Earbox}}</ref> He graduated from [[Concord High School (New Hampshire)|Concord High School]] in 1965.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.concord.k12.nh.us/alumni/hist/disting/notables.htm |title=Concord high school notables |publisher=Concord High School |access-date=December 17, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131221172824/http://www.concord.k12.nh.us/alumni/hist/disting/notables.htm |archive-date=December 21, 2013 }}</ref>

Adams next enrolled in [[Harvard University]], where he earned a bachelor of arts, magna cum laude, in 1969 and a master of arts in 1971, studying composition with [[Leon Kirchner]], [[Roger Sessions]], [[Earl Kim]], [[Harold Shapero]], and [[David Del Tredici]].<ref name="WarrackWest" />{{sfn|Cahill|2001|loc="1. Life"}} As an undergraduate, he conducted Harvard's student ensemble, the [[Bach Society Orchestra of Harvard University|Bach Society Orchestra]], for a year and a half; his ambitious programming drew criticism in the student newspaper, where one of his concerts was called "the major disappointment of last week's musical offerings".<ref>{{harvnb|Adams|2008|p=38}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Bach Society {{!}} News {{!}} The Harvard Crimson |url=https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1968/4/29/the-bach-society-pbtbhe-bach-society/ |access-date=December 16, 2022 |website=www.thecrimson.com}}</ref> Adams also became engrossed by the strict [[Modernism (music)|modernism]] of the 20th century (such as that of [[Boulez]]) while at Harvard, and believed that music had to continue progressing, to the extent that he once wrote a letter to [[Leonard Bernstein]] criticizing the supposed stylistic reactionism of ''[[Chichester Psalms]]''.<ref name=":7">{{harvnb|Ross|2007|pp=584}}</ref> But by night, Adams enjoyed listening to [[The Beatles]], [[Jimi Hendrix]], and [[Bob Dylan]],<ref name=":9" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=Why John Adams Won't Write an Opera About President Trump|url=https://www.kqed.org/arts/12731274/why-john-adams-wont-write-an-opera-about-president-trump|access-date=September 19, 2020|website=KQED|date=February 7, 2017|archive-date=August 15, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200815203607/https://www.kqed.org/arts/12731274/why-john-adams-wont-write-an-opera-about-president-trump|url-status=live}}</ref> and has said he once stood in line at eight in the morning to purchase a copy of ''[[Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band]].''<ref name=":6" />

Adams was the first Harvard student to be allowed to write a musical composition for his senior thesis.<ref name=":5">{{Cite news|last=Dyer|first=Richard|date=May 1, 2009|title=Music, Taken Personally|url=https://www.harvardmagazine.com/2009/05/music-taken-personally|access-date=September 3, 2020|website=Harvard Magazine}}</ref>{{sfn|''Britannica''|2021|loc="Early life and career"}} For his thesis, he wrote ''The Electric Wake'' for "electric" (i.e., amplified) soprano accompanied by an ensemble of "electric" strings, keyboards, harp, and percussion.<ref>{{harvnb|Adams|2008|pp=49–50}}</ref> A performance could not be put together at the time, and Adams has never heard the piece performed.<ref name=":5" />

After graduating, Adams received a copy of [[John Cage]]'s book ''[[Silence: Lectures and Writings]]'' from his mother. Largely shaken of his loyalty to modernism, he was inspired to move to San Francisco,<ref name=":7" /> where he worked at the [[San Francisco Conservatory of Music]] from 1972 until 1982,{{sfn|''Britannica''|2021|loc="Early life and career"}} teaching classes and directing the school's New Music Ensemble. In the early 1970s, Adams wrote several pieces of [[electronic music]] for a homemade [[modular synthesizer]] he called the "Studebaker".<ref>{{harvnb|Adams|2008|pp=72–73}}</ref> He also wrote ''[[American Standard (Adams)|American Standard]]'', comprising three movements, a [[March (music)|march]], a [[hymn]], and a [[jazz ballad]], which was recorded and released on [[Obscure Records]] in 1975.<ref>{{Cite magazine|last=Adams|first=John|title=Sonic Youth|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2008/08/25/sonic-youth|access-date=November 24, 2020|magazine=[[The New Yorker]]|date=August 18, 2008 |ref=none}}</ref>