Conversations

"The joy of the book is to hear artists from a variety of disciplines and backgrounds…rhapsodizing about their relationship to Reich’s music and how it influenced their own creative processes." —New York Times Book Review

Steve Reich is a living legend in the world of contemporary classical music. He is one of the pioneers of the minimalist movement in the 1960s, and his works have become central to the musical landscape worldwide, influencing generations of younger artists and musicians. Now Reich sits down with past collaborators, fellow composers and musicians influenced by his work to reflect on his prolific career as a composer as well as the music that inspired him and that has been inspired by him. Through this series of insightful, wide-ranging conversations about the highlights, successes and creative influences of Reich’s work, we gain a compelling glimpse into the career of “the most original musical thinker of our time” (New Yorker).

“[Conversations] articulately and bracingly shows Reich engaging in engrossing dialogues with a variety of interviewers…. It’s a kaleidoscopic portrait of Reich from 19 different angles, all illuminating and all very much him.” —Los Angeles Times 

Steve Reich has influenced composers and musicians all over the world. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Music for Double Sextet in 2009 and Grammy Awards for Different Trains (1989) and Music for 18 Musicians (1998). He received the Praemium Imperiale in Tokyo, the Polar Music Prize in Stockholm, the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale and the Gold Medal in Music from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.