Presented by Naxos Hallenkonzerte (No. 101)
September 20, 7:30 PM — Naxoshalle, Frankfurt am Main

“One of the most vital and original ensembles on the American music scene.” — The New York Times

About the Program

Alarm Will Sound brings John Luther Adams’s Ten Thousand Birds to Frankfurt’s Naxos Hallenkonzerte. Built from the songs of birds native to—or migrating through—the region where it’s played, the piece is Adams at his most attentive to nature: time goes unmeasured, and each page of the score is its own self-contained world of space and sound.

Here the music unfolds against projections drawn from John James Audubon’s The Birds of America, reimagined live by Frankfurt artist Béatrice Steimer through video sculpture and drawing, and threaded with short filmed portraits of the Alarm Will Sound musicians. As it ends, the boundary between listening and the natural world falls away and the concert moves outdoors. A closing set in the foyer comes from New York modular-synthesizer artist Matthew Ryals.

Program
John Luther Adams — Ten Thousand Birds (2014)
Béatrice Steimer — video sculptures & live drawings on projections from Audubon’s The Birds of America (2026, NHK commission)
Matthew Ryals — solo set for modular synthesizer (2025/26)

Contributors: Alan Pierson, conductor · Béatrice Steimer, video sculptures & live drawings · Matthew Ryals, modular synthesizer

About Alarm Will Sound

Celebrating its 25th anniversary, Alarm Will Sound continues to expand what it means to make music in the 21st century. Equally at home in concert halls and clubs, the ensemble champions voices that redefine genre and tell the evolving story of American music in all its complexity.

Details

Date: September 20
Time: 7:30 pm CEST
Tickets: Reserve via Naxos Hallenkonzerte