Rhys Chatham (born September 19, 1952, New York City^[LINK: http://www.answers.com/topic/rhys-chatham] [1]) is an American composer, guitarist, and trumpet player, primarily active in avant-garde and minimalist fields of experimentation. He is best known for his "guitar orchestra" compositions, which are acknowledged as the major influence on his sonic contemporary Glenn Branca. He has lived in France since 1987. Early Years Chatham began his musical career as a piano tuner for avant-garde pioneers La Monte Young and Glenn Gould. He soon studied under electronic music pioneer Morton Subotnick and minimalist iconTony Conrad; Chatham and Conrad played together in an early ensemble. In 1971, while still in his teens, Chatham founded of the experimental music program at The Kitchen in lower Manhattan. His early works, such as Two Gongs (1971) owed a significant debt to Young and other minimalists

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