Lukas Ligeti

Lukas Ligeti (born 13 June 1965, Vienna, Austria) is a composer and percussionist. His work incorporates elements of jazz, contemporary classical, and various world musics.

Background

He is of Hungarian ancestry and is the son of the noted composer György Ligeti (1923–2006). He holds a master's degree from the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna where he studied composition with Erich Urbanner.

He travels frequently to Africa and has performed together with musicians from Côte d'Ivoire, Egypt, Zimbabwe, and several other African nations. His current group, which brings together electronica and Burkinabe popular music, is called Burkina Electric.

From 1994 to 1996 he was visiting composer at the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics at Stanford University. He has worked with Elliott Sharp, George Lewis, Henry Kaiser, and Roy Nathanson.

In 2006 he was visiting professor at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.

He has lived in New York City since 1998 and currently resides in Bushwick, Brooklyn.

Works

Compositions have been commissioned by the London Sinfonietta, the Amadinda Ensemble Budapest, Icebreaker, the London Composers' Ensemble, the Synergy Percussion Sydney, the Ensemble Modern, Kronos Quartet, Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, Bang on a Can and others.

Awards

Ligeti has been the recipient of many awards, including the 1990 Vienna promotion award for composers, a 1993 award of the Republic of Austria and composition...
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