Students of UC Davis and University of the Pacific perform this large-scale work with a variety of percussion instruments. Every performance of Inuksuit is completely unique as it uses the natural environment of the performance site and its existing soundscape.

“Inuksuit” is inspired by the stone sentinels constructed over the centuries by the Inuit in the windswept expanses of the Arctic. The word Inuksuit translates literally: “to act in the capacity of the human.” This work is haunted by the vision of the melting of the polar ice, the rising of the seas, and what may remain of humanity’s presence after the waters recede. 

“Inuksuit” is a concert-length work for percussion, in which the performers are widely dispersed and move throughout a large, open area. The listeners, too, may move around freely and discover their own individual listening points. This work is intended to expand our awareness of the never-ending music of the world in which we live, transforming seemingly empty space into more fully experienced place.

   — John Luther Adams

NOTE: This performance takes place on the North Side of Lake Spafford in the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden, near the granite sculpture Timeline.

>> We recommend parking in Lot 5 or 5a (link goes to Google Maps). Parking is generally free on the weekends.

Program

John Luther Adams: Inuksuit

Free

Alaska-based composer John Luther Adams writes music influenced by the natural world and the late 20th-century avant garde. Adams, who’s been an environmental activist since the ’70s, studied with James Tenney at the California Institute of the Arts and draws inspiration from the spare, contemplative work of Morton Feldman.