"The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America," wrote John Adams in a letter to his wife Abigail.

By David Cutler

For contemporary composer John Adams, it was three notes that launched his latest opera: the sound of a pick axe “chipping away at stone.” Premiering at the San Francisco Opera, "Girls of the Golden West," a collaboration with director Peter…

By Jeffrey Brown, Jaywon Choe, Mike Fritz

A new HBO miniseries based on a Pulitzer-Prize winning biography by David McCullough aims to present an authentic portrayal of the life and times of America's second president, John Adams. McCullough and actor Paul Giamatti, who plays Adams in the…

Marin Alsop was recently appointed to conduct the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra as the first woman head of a major American orchaestra, as traditionally defined by budget size and other factors. Jeffrey Brown profiles Alsop's work in music.