Brendan L. Spengler

When humanity has moved on and all that remains are the insects making their own music, Philip Glass will sit next to Beethoven, Wagner and Schubert in the history books. His work, often misclassified as minimalism, is more accurately described by Glass himself as “music with repetitive structures” — it is hypnotic, emotive and transcendent. During his prolific career he has composed for opera, ballet, film soundtracks, small ensembles, solo piano work and more. He has collaborated with musicians and artists such as Ravi Shankar, Chuck Close, Allen Ginsberg and Errol Morris, as well as acts like The National. He was also the subject of the documentary A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts directed by Scott Hicks in 2007.
Recently, I had the pleasure of speaking with Philip Glass via telephone about several subjects, including his upcoming performance at the Englert Theatre on April 3 as part of the Mission Creek Festival.