Philip Glass

Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer, musician, and co-founder of the Philip Glass Ensemble (PGE). He has achieved international renown for his innovative and influential musical style, as well as his prolific output, which includes operas, symphonies, chamber music, film scores, and works for piano.

Philip Glass was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland. He started studying the violin at age six and was drawn to American popular music and jazz. After attending the University of Chicago, where he studied mathematics, Glass chose to pursue his passion and studied flute and composition at the Juilliard School in New York.

Philip Glass is internationally regarded as one of the most influential and important figures of the 20th century avant-garde and minimalism. His early works were characterized by a reoccurring and speedy arpeggios; before long Glass began to focus on wordless or slowly unfolding vocal compositions in an effort to emphasize the text that he set. This eventually led him to develop a new type of composition he called "music theatre", where performers of action and speech are sandwiched between musical interludes, underscoring the event.

Since his 1970s output, Glass has composed celebrated symphonies and chamber works and written librettos for operas, has collaborated with major specialized ensembles, and has scored film and documentary projects. His works are often inspired by the music of other cultures and the natural world. This has resulted in an eclectic and diverse output, and has led him to be hailed as one of the most influential composers of our time.

Philip Glass has written several books on the work and thoughts of composers, musicians and philosophers. In these, he covers topics from the transformative power of tragedy to the impact of technology on music. His first book on music, “Music by Philip Glass,” was published in 1987, and since then has been followed by several other books including “An Evening with Philip Glass: Oral History and Reflections”(2008) and “Music in Twelve Parts” (2014). Recently, Glass has written a memoir, “Words Without Music” (2015), which was a New York Times Bestseller. This memoir provides an intimate look into the life and work of one of the greats of the 20th century and is a very interesting read.

Philip Glass is a highly versatile and experienced composer whose works are still widely performed around the world and enjoyed by millions. He is renowned as one of the most influential composers of the postwar era and has cultivated an impressive and diverse repertoire. By incorporating American jazz and world music into his works, and using a variety of tools from poetry to film, Philip Glass has crafted a unique and provocative body of work. He continues to push his own limits and inspire those around him.