Over the years, composer, conductor and performer Lukas Foss has been one of America's most committed champions of new music. As a composer, he's been identified with serialism, improvisation and chance processes.
As conductor of the Buffalo Philharmonic from 1963 to 1970, he created controversy by turning that city into a center for modern music. Since 1971, he's served as music director and conductor of the Brooklyn Philharmonic, where he programs concerts of both classical and new music. Foss is also now Conductor Laureate of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and is a former conductor of the Jerusalem Symphony.
Foss was a child prodigy who began writing music at age seven and who, at age 23, was the youngest composer to ever receive a Guggenheim Fellowship. His long career in music was celebrated this week with a 65th birthday concert at Town Hall in New York.
Click the "Listen Now" link above to hear Foss discuss his life and work.
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