Ligeti, Lukas

Ligeti, Lukas, Austrian composer and percussionist; b. Vienna, June 13, 1965. He began playing percussion at the age of 18, then studied with Erich Urbanner (composition) and Fritz Ozmec (jazz drums) at the Vienna Academy of Muisc (diploma, 1993); also attended summer courses in new music at Darmstadt, taking improvisation workships with John Zorn (1988) and David Moss (1991) and in composition with Crumb (1991). In 1994 he became a visting scholar at the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics at Stanford Univ. Among his awards are composition grants from the city of Vienna (1989, 1993), a Foerd-erungspreis of the city of Vienna (1990), an Austrian state grant for composition (1991), and a prize of the Austrian Ministry for Science and Research (1993). Ligeti has been strongly influenced by jazz, rock, and traditional musics; he developed a new way of playing drums based on movement patterns derived from central and east African practices, as well as a new tablature. He has also devoted much time to the art of improvisation.

Works

Pattern Transformation for 4 Percussionists on 2 Marimbas (1988); Oblique Narratives, 3 pieces for 2 Pianos (1989–90); Frozen State of Song for Saxophone Quartet (1990–93); Seeking Scapegoat for Violin, Soprano Saxophone, 2 Electric Guitars, and Drums (1991); The Chinese Wall for Orch. (1992); Groove Magic for 11 Musicians and Computer-controlled Click Tracks (1992–93); Tonga Tango for Chorus (1993).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire