Samuel Adams: Current

Other Minds is proud to present Current, three recent works by 2019 Guggenheim Fellow Samuel Adams, two of which are world premiere recordings. The title work, Current, (world premiere recording), scored for string quartet and resonating snare drums, is performed by the Spektral Quartet, which co-commissioned the piece with Cal Performances; this album marks one of the group’s last projects as an ensemble. At the 2022 premiere in Berkeley, the San Francisco Chronicle called Current “a superbly inviting meditation on our old friends harmony, rhythm and rhetoric,” adding that the work represents “a powerfully precise convergence of ambition and means.” Bookending that large-scale work are Violin Diptych (world premiere recording), performed by violinist Karen Gomyo and pianist Conor Hanick, and Shade Studies, a piano solo performed by Hanick with electronics. The string quartet Current that provides the centerpiece of Adams’ new album dates from 2016, when Spektral Quart