Stephen Michael Reich, born October 3, 1936, is a leading American composer widely recognized as a pioneer of minimal music in the 1960s. Known for his use of repeated patterns, gradual processes, and phase shifting, Reich developed groundbreaking techniques such as tape loops in works like It’s Gonna Rain and Come Out. His compositions, including Music for 18 Musicians and Drumming, helped define minimalism and influenced experimental, rock, and electronic music. In the 1980s, Reich explored darker themes inspired by history and his Jewish heritage, most notably in Different Trains. Internationally influential, he is regarded as one of the most significant living composers to have reshaped the course of contemporary music.