Philip Glass

Philip Morris Glass, born January 31, 1937, is an American composer and pianist whose music has become closely associated with minimalism. Built from repeating phrases and shifting layers, his work reflects what Glass has called “music with repetitive structures,” a method he helped develop across opera, concert music, theatre and film.

Born in Baltimore, Glass studied with William Bergsma, Vincent Persichetti, Darius Milhaud and Nadia Boulanger. His work with Ravi Shankar in 1966 changed his perspective on composition. In 1968 he founded the Philip Glass Ensemble to perform his music, and later established Chatham Square Production in 1971 to release it.

His major operas include Einstein on the Beach (1976), Satyagraha (1980), Akhnaten (1983), The Voyage (1992) and The Perfect American (2013). Glass has also written numerous chamber operas and musical-theatre works, alongside 15 symphonies, 12 concertos, nine string quartets and other chamber pieces. His Broadway work includes music for revivals of The Elephant Man in 2002, The Crucible in 2016 and King Lear in 2019. His score for King Lear received the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music in a Play.

Film has been another major outlet for Glass's writing. His scores include Koyaanisqatsi (1982), Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985), Hamburger Hill (1987), The Thin Blue Line (1988), Candyman (1992), The Truman Show (1998) and The Illusionist (2006). He received Academy Award nominations for Best Original Score for Martin Scorsese's Kundun, Stephen Daldry's The Hours and Richard Eyre's Notes on a Scandal.

Glass has also received four Grammy nominations, including Best Contemporary Classical Composition nominations for Satyagraha and String Quartet No. 2. His honors include a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 1995, the National Medal of Arts in 2010, Kennedy Center Honors in 2018 and the Grammy Trustees Award in 2020.