Lukas Foss

Lukas Foss (1922-2009) was a German-born American composer, pianist and conductor. Born Lukas Fuchs in Berlin, he reached the United States with his family in 1937 and studied composition with Paul Hindemith at Yale. He is known for works such as Time Cycle, Echoi and Baroque Variations, and for the Improvisation Chamber Ensemble he founded at UCLA. Lukas Foss succeeded Arnold Schoenberg as professor at UCLA in 1953 and later taught at SUNY Buffalo and Boston University. He wrote his cantata The Prairie in the 1940s.