American composer Terry Riley performs in London in 2018. His groundbreaking work In C helped launch the musical movement called minimalism 60 years ago. Robin Little/Getty Images hide caption
Terry Riley Terry Riley artist page: interviews, features and/or performances archived at NPR Music
Terry Riley
Cellist Maya Beiser has reimagined Terry Riley's pioneering work In C, which helped launch the style of music called minimalism. Boyang Hu/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Cellist Maya Beiser's variation on a minimalist manifesto
The Philip Glass Ensemble performing Music in Twelve Parts at the Idea Warehouse in 1975, with vocalist Joan La Barbara (far left). The Museum of Modern Art/SCALA/Art Resource, N.Y. hide caption
One of the original works of art created for the Birdsong Project Amy Tan/Courtesy of The Birdsong Project hide caption
A still from Brooklyn Raga Massive's In C video. YouTube hide caption
Osmo Vänskä conducts the Minnesota Orchestra in Havana, Cuba in May 2015. Yamil Lage/AFP/Getty Images hide caption
Composer Terry Riley (center) celebrates his 50th birthday in 1985 with his muses in the Kronos Quartet (from left) David Harrington, John Sherba, Hank Dutt and Joan Jeanrenaud. Richard McCaffrey/Courtesy of Kronos Quartet hide caption
Over four decades, the Kronos quartet (from left, John Sherba, Sunny Yang, Hank Dutt and David Harrington) has premiered more than 800 pieces. Jay Blakesberg hide caption
An incredible roster of musicians gathered at Carnegie Hall in 2009 to play Terry Riley's epic 'In C' — with the complete, but only single-page, score projected overhead. Julien Jourdes/courtesy of Carnegie Hall Archive hide caption
Hear An Excerpt From Adams' 'Inuksuit'
The Nashville Symphony with Music Director Giancarlo Guerrero (center) during Spring For Music at Carnegie Hall in Manhattan, New York on May 12, 2012. Melanie Burford/NPR hide caption
Big Boi and Terry Riley: You didn't see this one coming, did you? courtesy of the artists hide caption
Cellist Pablo Casals, violinist Fritz Kreisler, pianist Harold Bauer and conductor Walter Damrosch in 1904. Blaine Littell Collection of Walter Damrosch Memorabilia / Carnegie Hall Archives hide caption