Philip Glass

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Philip Glass was honored as an SCL Lifetime Achievement recipient at the annual New York Holiday Party on December 11, 2017.

Honoree introductory remarks by SCL President Ashley Irwin: “Philip Glass has had an extraordinary career in virtually every genre of music. We’re going to focus on his film work tonight, but I’m sure you’re all aware of the vast scope of his concert material.”

Through his operas, symphonies, ensemble compositions and wide-ranging collaborations with artists Twyla Tharp and Allen Ginsberg to Woody Allen and David Bowie, Philip Glass has had an extraordinary and unprecedented impact upon the musical and intellectual lives of his time.

As a film composer, Glass has received Academy Award nominations for his music for The Hours, Notes On a Scandal and Martin Scorsese’s Kundun, and won a Golden Globe for his work on The Truman Show. His sonic landscape for Koyaanisqatsi is considered one of the most radical and influential pairings of music and vision since Disney’s Fantasia.

At the 2017 SCL event honoring Glass, a suite from his score for the BAFTA-winning, Emmy-nominated National Geographic documentary Jane was performed by a chamber ensemble. The film premiered earlier that year at the Hollywood Bowl with live orchestra, and Glass won Best Original Score – Documentary at the Hollywood Music in Media Awards.

His creative collaborations with leading rock, pop and world music artists date back to the 1960s, and include works with Laurie Anderson, David Bowie, Leonard Cohen, Brian Eno and Ravi Shankar. Glass is the first composer to command a global, multi-generational audience across the spectrum of film, the opera house, the concert hall, the dance world and popular music.

December 2017