American composer. He studied at the Juilliard School and with Boulanger in Paris (1964-6) and worked with the Indian musicians Ravi Shankar and Alla Rakha.

 

His minimalist works of 1965-8 (e.g. Two Pages) are ‘experimental and exploratory’ but later ones, for his own amplified ensemble, are more complicated (e.g. Music in Fifths). Since 1975 his works have nearly all been for the theatre.

 

 

When Einstein on the Beach was given at the Met (1976) he became famous; further full-scale operas, Satyagraha (1980), Akhnaten (1984), The Making of the Representative for Planet 8 (1988) and The Voyage (1992), chamber operas and music theatre works followed. One of the most popular serious composers in the USA, he has also performed in rock and jazz