Steve Reich

b. 1936

Snapshot

Steve Reich was recently called "…the most original musical thinker of our time" (New Yorker) and
"…among the great composers of the century" (New York Times) * His instantly recognizable musical language combines rigorous structures with propulsive rhythms and seductive instrumental colour * Many choreographers have used his scores, including Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker, Jiri Kylian and Jerome Robbins * Exclusive recording contract with Nonesuch, on which label Different Trains earned him one Grammy™ for Best Contemporary Composition and Music for 18 Musicians a second * His "documentary video opera" works The Cave and Three Tales (in collaboration with video artist Beryl Korot) have expanded the boundaries of the operatic medium.

Works by Steve Reich include:
Double Sextet (2007) for ensemble
Music for Eighteen Musicians (1974–76) for voices and ensemble
City Life (1995) for ensemble
Triple Quartet (1998) for string quartet with pre-recorded tape, or string ensemble, or string orchestra

Looking Ahead:
The Kronos Quartet will perform the Spanish premiere of WTC 9/11 at the Auditorio Nacional de Musica in Madrid, June 26.* The Bang on a Can All-Stars will be outdoors at New York’s Governor’s Island to perform Electric Counterpoint on July 13.* Music for 18 Musicians will be performed at the Tanglewood Music Center’s Festival of Contemporary Music in Lenox, Massachusetts, August 11.* Bramwell Tovey leads the Colin Currie Group in a performance of Drumming at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, August 11.

New Video: View an interview with Steve Reich talking about his life and music.

"There's just a handful of living composers who can legitimately claim to have altered the direction of musical history and Steve Reich is one of them." —The Guardian