John Adams is in Los Angeles this week to conduct a series of concerts with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at Walt Disney Concert Hall, featuring two performances, the orchestra's first, of his latest opera, A Flowering Tree, with its original cast of singers, and an additional concert featuring his Son of Chamber Symphony. The LAist chooses the performances for its Classical Pick of the Week.

For the first concert, on Tuesday, Adams conducts the Los Angeles Philharmonic New Music Group, pairing his recent work for chamber ensemble, Son of Chamber Symphony, with works by two young composer/performers: Timothy Andres, who joins on piano, and Payton MacDonald, who joins on percussion. Included is the world premiere of Adres's Nightjar, a commission of the LA Philharmonic. The concert, the last of the season for the popular Green Umbrella new-music series, will be preceded by a pre-concert talk with Helane Anderson, the Philharmonic's Artistic Administrator.

A Flowering Tree, Adams's 2006 opera about the love between an enchanted Indian girl, Kumudha, and her Prince, receives its Los Angeles Philharmonic premiere, with the composer conducting the orchestra, on Friday night; an encore performance will be given on Sunday afternoon. Adams joined his longtime collaborator, director Peter Sellars, in adapting the libretto from a South Indian folktale and poems translated by A.K. Ramanujan. Singers soprano Jessica Rivera (Kumudha), tenor Russell Thomas (The Prince), and bass Eric Owens (Storyteller) reprise the roles they created for the original 2006 production in Vienna and which were later captured with the London Symphony Orchestra on the 2008 Nonesuch release called "a terrific recording" by the Los Angeles Times. For this week's performances, the LA Philharmonic and the three singers will be joined by the Los Angeles Master chorale, led by music director Grant Gershon.

Adams's affiliation with the Los Angeles Philharmonic continues next season, which opens on October 3 with a performance of City Noir, a new piece by Adams commissioned by the orchestra and led by Gustavo Dudamel in his first concert as the Philharmonic's new music director. Later in the season, the composer curates the West Coast: Left Coast festival, which includes a concert with Kronos Quartet and two performances of his The Dharma at Big Sur with violinist Leila Josefowicz.

For more information on any of the above, visit laphil.com. For other upcoming performances led by the composer, visit nonesuch.com/on-tour.