Stephen Michael Reich is an American composer who, along with La Monte Young, Terry Riley, and Philip Glass, pioneered minimal music in the mid to late 1960s. His innovations include using tape loops to create phasing patterns, and the use of simple, audible processes to explore musical concepts. These compositions, marked by their use of repetitive figures, slow harmonic rhythm and canons, have significantly influenced contemporary music, especially in the US. Reich's work took on a darker character in the 1980s with the introduction of historical themes as well as themes from his Jewish heritage, notably the Grammy Award-winning Different Trains. Reich's style of composition influenced many composers and groups. Writing in the The Guardian music critic Andrew Clements described Reich as one of "a handful of living composers who can legitimately claim to have altered the direction of musical history". The American composer and critic Kyle Gann has said Reich "may...be considered, by general acclamation, America's greatest living composer". [More at Wikipedia]

October 3rd, 1936 in New York City (Age 87)