New York Magazine’s Vulture website describes La Monte Young as “the most influential living composer.” He was born in Bern, Idaho on October 14, 1935. From 1955 to 1956 Young studied with Leonard Stein, a colleague of Arnold Schoenberg. At UCLA, Young studied music theory, composition and ethno-musicology, earning a BA in 1958. From 1958 to 1960, Young studied music at UC Berkeley, where he collaborated with Terry Riley. In 1960 he composed music for David Tudor, a frequent interpreter of the music of John Cage.