Opera singers (left to right) Elīna Garanča, Helen Donath and Tamar Iveri perform in Mozart's opera Così fan tutte at the Salzburg Opera Festival. Andreas Schaad/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
John Adams
Fiona Apple. Her long-awaited — and monumental — new album, Fetch the Bolt Cutters, tops our shortlist of the best releases out on April 17. Courtesy of the artist hide caption
The debut album by the Aizuri Quartet is called Blueprinting. David Stith/New Amsterdam Records hide caption
Florence the Machine's High as Hope is on our short list of the best albums out on June 29. Vincent Haycock/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Miners on stage for a rehearsal of Girls of the Golden West, the new opera by John Adams and Peter Sellars, which premiered at the San Francisco Opera Nov. 21. Stefan Cohen/San Francisco Opera hide caption
John Adams' new "dramatic symphony," Scheherazade.2, comes out Sept. 30. Vern Evans/Courtesy of the artist. hide caption
Marin Alsop and John Adams at a performance of Adams' Dr. Atomic at the Cabrillo Festival in 2008. Cabrillo Festival hide caption
A Parting Gift — With Legs — For Marin Alsop At The Cabrillo Festival
John Adams' latest album features works inspired by Beethoven. Deborah O'Grady/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
The last photo of Leon Klinghoffer, taken on the cruise ship Achille Lauro in 1985. He was killed there during a hijacking. Courtesy of the American Jewish Historical Society at the Center for Jewish History hide caption
30 Years After Their Father's Murder, Klinghoffer Daughters Step Onto Their Own Stage
The Pulitzer Prize-winning Become Ocean by John Luther Adams is one of NPR Classical's favorite albums of 2014. Cantaloupe hide caption
Several hundred protesters picket the opening night of the Metropolitan Opera season at Lincoln Center, Sept. 22, 2014. "You will be made to destroy that set," Jeffrey Wiesenfeld said. John Moore/Getty Images hide caption
American composer John Adams has written a new concerto for saxophone. Nonesuch hide caption
The Concerto: A 400-Year-Old Recipe That Still Cooks
James Conion leads the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Chorus at Carnegie Hall in New York, NY on May 09, 2014. Melanie Burford/Prime/Melanie Burford/Prime for NPR hide caption
A Rare American Oratorio At Carnegie Hall
David Robertson, a passionate champion of new music, conducts the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra on tour in Berlin. Dilip Vishwanat/St. Louis Symphony hide caption
The Attacca String Quartet's latest album celebrates John Adams. Lisa-Marie Mazzucco hide caption
Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony, whose recording of music by John Adams made our Top 10 of 2012. Bill Swerbenski/courtesy of the artists hide caption
Clockwise from upper left: Acid Pauli, Kendrick Lamar, Samuel Yirga, Kelan Philip Cohran, Waxahatchee, Pallbearer, Matthew Dear Courtesy of the artists hide caption
With the presidential election set for Tuesday, we take a look at operas that tackle today's toughest political issues. Scott Olson/Getty Images hide caption
The original production of John Adams' Nixon in China (at Houston Grand Opera) celebrates the 25-year mark. Jim Caldwell/Houston Grand Opera hide caption
John Adams' Nixon in China, produced at the Metropolitan Opera in January 2011. Left to right: Janis Kelly as Pat Nixon, Teresa S. Herold as the Second Secretary to Mao, James Maddalena as Richard Nixon, Ginger Costa Jackson as the First Secretary to Mao, Russell Braun as Chou En-lai. Ken Howard/Metropoltan Opera hide caption
Conductor and composer Michael Tilson Thomas. Chris Wahlberg/courtesy of the artist hide caption