Calendar of Events
Big Ears + Nief-Norf: John Luther Adams - Inuksuit
Category: Free event and Music
JOHN LUTHER ADAMS: INUKSUIT & Yaz Lancaster: sequoia
performed by Nief-Norf
Knoxville Botanical Gardens & Arboretum
Sunday, April 18 at 2PM & 5PM
Big Ears is excited to announce the first of a series of outdoor programs — most of them free and open to the public — which will take place in different locations throughout Knoxville.
On Sunday, April 18 at 2pm and 5pm, Big Ears will present Pulitzer Prize-winner John Luther Adams’ seminal outdoor piece, Inuksuit. The work will be performed by the acclaimed Knoxville-based contemporary music ensemble, Nief-Norf, and offered free-to-the-public at the Knoxville Botanical Gardens. Big Ears previously presented Inuksuit as the fondly remembered closing event of the 2016 Big Ears Festival.
Inuksuit — a 70-minute work — 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."
The presentation on Sunday, April 18 will feature roughly 25 musicians dispersed widely throughout the upper meadow at the Gardens — making it easy for audiences to enjoy the experience while maintaining healthy social distance.
The concert will open with Yaz Lancaster’s 2019 composition, sequoia, a 10-minute piece scored ingeniously for musicians performing on an array of ceramic flower pots.
The performances are free and open to the public.
