Texts from missing-persons posters and memorials posted in the vicinity of the ruins of the World Trade Center, Lower Manhattan, Sept. and Oct. 2001; personal reminiscences (principally drawn from interviews appearing in the "Portraits of grief" series in The New York Times); and a randomly chosen list of names of the victims.

John Adams new work 'El Nino' is, he has said, "My own version of 'The Messiah." Like Handel's Messiah, El Nino tells the story of Jesus.

Classical singer Julia Bullock makes her solo recording debut, on Nonesuch Records. Bullock is joined on the album by London's Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Christian Reif for Samuel Barber's Knoxville: Summer of 1915 and an aria from John Adams's El Niño. With Reif on the piano, she also performs traditional spirituals and songs by Oscar Brown, Jr.; Billy Taylor; and Sandy Denny. The first track released is an interpretation of the Connie...