Philip gained notoriety as one of the founders of Minimalism with works including Music in a Similar Motion, String Out, and Music in Fifths. This period culminated in Music in Twelve Parts (1974), a three hour summation of Philip’s new music, and his landmark opera Einstein on the Beach (1976), a five hour epic created with Robert Wilson that is now seen as a landmark in musical theatre.

Film and TV

A long term collaboration with director Godfrey Reggio resulted in the ground-breaking Qatsi Trilogy; Koyaanisqatsi, Powaqqatsi and Naqoyqatsi. Further credits include Mishima, Hamburger Hill, The Thin Blue Line, Candyman, A Brief History of Time, Jenipapo, The Secret Agent, Bill Condon’s Candyman II, Bent, The Truman Show which won a Golden Globe Award for Best Score in 1999 and a score for the re-release of the 1930 Dracula in 2000. Philip won the LA Critics Award for his score to Martin Scorsese's Kundun (1997) and a BAFTA in 2002 for Stephen Daldry's The Hours. Both scores received Academy, Golden Globe and Grammy nominations.

Scores also include Joshua Michael Stern’s Neverwas, Errol Morriss’ The Fog of War 2003, D.J. Caruso’s Taking Lives, David Koepp’s adaptation of Stephen King’s Secret Window and David Gordon Green’s Undertow. Philip’s score to the TV documentary Pandemic: Facing Aids was also nominated for an Emmy in the Outstanding Music Contribution category.

Philip Glass wrote the oscar nominated score for psychological drama Notes On A Scandel starring Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett.

Most recently Glass has written the score for three films due out this year, No Reservations a drama starring Catherine Zeta Jones, the latest Woody Allen film Cassandra's Dream and Les Animaux Amoureux due out at the end of year.

Music in Adverts 

For the launch of Eurostar’s move to St Pancras, Kings Cross they have chosen an adaptation of Heroes by Philip Glass. For more information please go to http://www.eurostar.com.

'Pruit Igoe' from Koyaanisqatsi was chosen by BMW for their latest spot.

Operas, Dance and Theatre

Operas include the trilogy; Einstein on the Beach, Satyagraha and Akhnaten, Civil Wars (Rome) written for the Olympics, The Making of the Representative for Planet 8, The Fall of the House of Usher, White Raven commissioned by Portugal to celebrate its history of discovery and Hydrogen Jukebox. Further titles include The Voyage, Marriages Between Zones Three, Four and Five, the digital 3-D opera Monsters of Grace, and In the Penal Colony (2000).

More recent works include Galileo Galilei 2002 with Mary Zimmerman, The Sound of a Voice 2003 with David Henry Hwang, and Waiting for the Barbarians. Dance hybrids include In the Upper Room choreographed by Twyla Tharp and A Descent into the Maelstrom. Theatre hybrids include The Photographer, 1000 Airplanes on the Roof and What's So Funny?. Philip created a trilogy of musical theatre pieces based on the Jean Cocteau films; Orphée, La Belle et La Bête and Les Enfants Terribles. Recording projects include Songs from Liquid Days with lyrics by David Byrne, Paul Simon, Laurie Anderson and Suzanne Vega, and Passages with Ravi Shankar.

Recent Classical Works

Philip premiered Orion in 2004, a collaboration between Glass and six other international artists, in Athens as part of the cultural celebration of the 2004 Olympics. Other recent works include Piano Concerto No.2 with the Omaha Symphony Orchestra, Symphony No.7 with the National Symphony Orchestra and the opera Waiting for the Barbarians based on the book of the same name by nobel prize winning author J.M.Coetzee.

External Websites

www.philipglass.com/