Booking-links
Book nowSat 1 Nov 2025, 7.30PM
The Bridgewater Hall
The Hallé Presents: Adams Conducts The Chairman Dances
Booking-links
Book now
Superstar violinist and well-known champion of his compositions, Leila Josefowicz joins John Adams to perform Scheherazade.2.
It was Leila Josefowicz who gave the world premiere of Scheherazade.2, a dramatic symphony for solo violin and orchestra, with the New York Philharmonic in 2015. John Adams wrote the piece especially for her, having been struck with inspiration following his visit to an Arabian Nights exhibition at the Arab World Institute, Paris. With the solo violin part representing Scheherazade, and her endless inventing of stories to spare her from her murderous husband, the work is an effective illustration of women’s persisting struggles in a patriarchal society.
The Chairman Dances is a ‘foxtrot for orchestra’ – written as an ‘outtake’ to his popular opera Nixon in China it is a masterful display of minimalist music filled with texture, layers, chugging rhythms and romantic melodies.
Rounding off John’s time with us in Manchester, the concert concludes with The Rock You Stand On – a brand–new commission and the opportunity to hear John Adams bring this new music to life in its UK premiere. This is going to be a very special evening.
Get to know the music
Featuring
-
John Adams
Conductor
-
Leila Josefowicz
Violin
-
John Adams
Conductor
-
Leila Josefowicz
Violin
John Adams
“I'm very proud of my history with the Hallé orchestra. I first conducted them in the days before The Bridgewater Hall opened. And several years later, for that celebratory opening of the Hall, Kent Nagano conducted the world premiere of Slonimsky's Earbox, which I composed for the event. I'm pleased to bring 'Slonimsky' back as well as being able to introduce other pieces of mine, both old and new, to the Hallé audiences. I'm especially looking forward to having the Hallé Choir perform my choral symphony, Harmonium, to having my longtime collaborator Leila Josefowicz play Scheherazade.2 (written for her) and to ending these concerts with the UK premiere of my most recent orchestra piece, The Rock You Stand On.”