Philip Glass



Philip Glass (b. 1937) is composer of contemporary classical music. He is most famously associated with the minimalist movement in music, although the majority of his work is more accurately described as theatre music written for the concert hall. In that capacity, he has written several operas, ballets, concerti and symphonies, and has been nominated for an Academy Award for his film scores on three occasions.

His first breakthrough came in 1976 when he debuted the first of his portrait trilogy, Einstein on the Beach. He has since worked with David Bowie, using the rock star's music as a backdrop for two symphonies, has collaborated with world-renowned sitarist Ravi Shankar (Norah Jones's father), and employed Linda Ronstadt as vocalist for his chamber opera, 1000 Airplanes on the Roof.

In 1977, Glass wrote a series of short vocal and instrumental pieces for Sesame Street. These include a series of animated films which employ geometric curves traced to various points on a circle to reveal other geometric shapes and colors. These works very closely resemble the "Dance" numbers written during the same time period as his Einstein on the Beach opera.