# Composer John Adams Reads from His Autobiography

Composer John Adams reads from his autobiography, "Hallelujah Junction," and includes additional anecdotes from his life. He speaks about his parents, his first music lessons with his father, the joy he found in listening to recorded classical and jazz music as a child. Heavily influenced by West Coast writers, he and his wife moved to California, the landscape of which would influence his compositions. His experiences teaching music at the San Francisco Conservatory allowed for experimentation and performances of his works. Adams also reads a letter he wrote to Leonard Bernstein as a precocious music student at Harvard University and Bernstein's reply that are both part of the Library of Congress' Leonard Bernstein collection.

- Kind: Talk
- Year: 2010
- By: Library Of Congress
- Genres: Music
- Archive: [Library of Congress](https://www.loc.gov/item/2021688459/)
- Licence or status: Rights statement at the Library of Congress (as the archive states it)
- Credit: Library of Congress
- Who can watch: Tweens profiles and older (the archive gives no rating; placed by Invisible Network from its collection and subjects)

[Watch now](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/watch/archive/loc/2021688459?play=1)