Steve Reich is a composer who was one of the pioneers of Minimalism in the U.S. during the 1960s. The New York Philharmonic, the San Francisco Symphony, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the St. Louis Symphony, the BBC Symphony, and the Boston Symphony have all performed his music. Dance companies and choreographers including the New York City Ballet, Jiri Kylian, Alvin Ailey, Eliot Feld, and Laura Dean have also used Reich's music, which is often characterized by repetitive figures, canons, and slow harmonic rhythm.

In the 1970s, Reich spent time in Africa and was inspired to write Drumming, which lasted 90 minutes and marked a shift in his career to more complex pieces. He also formed his own band, Steve Reich and Musicians, and composed a number of pieces for it.

In 1990 he received a Grammy Award for Best Composition for Different Trains, which marked a new compositional method and showcased dark historical themes connected to the trains used during Nazi Germany. In 1994, Reich was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Reich has also received the Polar Music Prize, the Pulitzer Prize for Music, and the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award for his work in the advancement of musical concepts. In 2014, Reich won the Golden Lion Lifetime Achievement Award from the Venice Biennale. Reich has also received honorary doctorates from the New England Conservatory of Music and the Royal College of Music in London.