Composer and Pianist. Son of a Jewish businessman, he began to study piano at the age of 7. He coninued his studies at the Los Angeles Conservatory and the University of California. In 1968, he won the gold medal at the International Piano Competition "Viotti" in Italy. In 1972, he went to Germany as an exchange student. He then taught at the University of Münster and the Steinfurt Music School in Münster from 1977 to 1983. Moving to Berlin in 1983, he became a leading performer of modern piano music. He directed the Berlin Chamber Music Ensemble from 1983 to 1986 and taught at the French Music School of Berlin from 1985 to 1991. He was interested in the use of computers in combination with the piano to create new multimedia works. His piece "The Piano of Light" (1997) utilized a computer and 60 colored spotlights to creat a multimedia curtain of light during his piano performance. He also used the computer to analyze the musical structure inherent in the Psalms. This work was published as "The Music of Psalms, Proverbs and Job in the Hebrew Bible" posthumously in 2011. Among his collaborations were one with Frank Zappa in 1992 called "Ruth is Sleeping".
Composer and Pianist. Son of a Jewish businessman, he began to study piano at the age of 7. He coninued his studies at the Los Angeles Conservatory and the University of California. In 1968, he won the gold medal at the International Piano Competition "Viotti" in Italy. In 1972, he went to Germany as an exchange student. He then taught at the University of Münster and the Steinfurt Music School in Münster from 1977 to 1983. Moving to Berlin in 1983, he became a leading performer of modern piano music. He directed the Berlin Chamber Music Ensemble from 1983 to 1986 and taught at the French Music School of Berlin from 1985 to 1991. He was interested in the use of computers in combination with the piano to create new multimedia works. His piece "The Piano of Light" (1997) utilized a computer and 60 colored spotlights to creat a multimedia curtain of light during his piano performance. He also used the computer to analyze the musical structure inherent in the Psalms. This work was published as "The Music of Psalms, Proverbs and Job in the Hebrew Bible" posthumously in 2011. Among his collaborations were one with Frank Zappa in 1992 called "Ruth is Sleeping".
Bio by: Kenneth Gilbert
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