This weekend marks the start of West Coast, Left Coast, the series of events at Walt Disney Concert Hall curated by John Adams, as the festival's director and as creative chair of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. The series, which celebrates the unique spirit of California's creative renegades, kicks off on Saturday with a special Opening Event titled Eureka!, featuring performances by Kronos Quartet, Terry Riley, Matmos, and Mike Einziger.

Kronos will perform It Got Dark, a piece by fellow Californian, composer Thomas Newman, and joins Matmos in performing the duo's For Terry Riley. Both pieces were written for Kronos. The festival continues in the coming weeks with further performances by Kronos, conducting by Adams, and performances of his new City Noir by the LA Philharmonic under Gustavo Dudamel. For more on the festival, visit laphil.com.

The Los Angeles Times's Diane Haithman, in a preview of the coming events, says that Dudamel, the Philharmonic's new music director, "isn't the only new kid in town at the Phil," looking at Adams's role as its creative chair.

In the article, Haithman speaks with Kevin Starr, a professor at USC whose books on California history helped inspire City Noir and who will participate in a symposium during the festival. "John has a special ability, or developed ability, to hear the music of various American places," Starr tells the Times. "Look at his operas: Dr. Atomic ... Nixon in China, with the breathtaking arrival of the plane onstage—when Nixon gets out, he really gives us Nixon in the music. His music is abstract but not too abstract. Despite the incredibly intricate theory behind what he does, you can follow the story he's telling you."

Read the complete article at latimes.com.