Professor Johnson (Chair, Department of Music Theory, History, and Composition) presented “How Harmonic Structure Shapes Characterization in John Adams’s Nixon in China” at The Princeton Festival on July 18. Professor Johnson (Chair, Department of Music Theory, History, and Composition) presented “How Harmonic Structure Shapes Characterization in John Adams’s Nixon in China” at The Princeton Festival on July 18.
The presentation was hosted by the Princeton Public Library and is part of the lecture series leading up to performances of the opera by The Princeton Festival on June 23 and 30. Professor Johnson, author of the book John Adams’s Nixon in China (Ashgate 2011), explored the harmonic structures underlying three of the opera's most memorable arias to illuminate Adams's compositional style and its role in characterizing the historical figures portrayed in the opera.
princetonfestival.org/event/2019-lecture-johnson/
https://www.ithaca.edu/intercom/article.php/20190620190109999