Read more
Born in 1936, American composer Steve Reich helped pioneer minimal music alongside Terry Riley, Philip Glass and others during the late 1960s, becoming an emblematic figure of contemporary music in the process. He took up music composition after initially studying philosophy, and his teachers included Luciano Berio and Darius Milhaud. He writes truly American music while at the same time often using the works and techniques of the greats of European music history as a starting point. His rich output has been recognised with numerous awards and distinctions, including the Praemium Imperiale bestowed on him by the Emperor of Japan (2006), the Polar Music Prize from the Royal Swedish Academy (2007) and the Pulitzer Prize (2009). His works have been played by the world's great orchestras, including the London Symphony Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, Ensemble Modern , the Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Many noted choreographers, such as Jiří Kylián, Anna Teresa de Keersmaeker and Jerome Robbins, to name a few, have worked with his music.