Luciano Berio

Luciano Berio (24 October 1925 – 27 May 2003) was an Italian composer noted for his experimental work (in particular Sequenza, his series of solo pieces using extended techniques, and his 1968 orchestral composition Sinfonia) and for his pioneering work in electronic music. His early work was influenced by Igor Stravinsky and experiments with serial and electronic techniques, while his later works explore indeterminacy and the use of spoken texts as the basic material for composition. Life and career Berio was born in Oneglia (now part of Imperia), on the Ligurian coast of Italy on 24 October 1925. After the war, unable to continue studying the piano because of his injured hand, he instead focused on composition. He studied at the Milan Conservatory, counterpoint with Giulio Cesare Paribeni and from 1948 composition with Giorgio Federico Ghedini. from whom he gained an interest in serialism. From 1954 he attended the Internationale Ferienkurse für Neue Musik at Darmstadt, His students included Louis Andriessen, Noah Creshevsky, Steven Gellman, Dina Koston, Steve Reich, Luca Francesconi, Giulio Castagnoli, Flavio Emilio Scogna, William Schimmel and Phil Lesh of the Grateful Dead. Al