American composer Philip Glass turns 75 on January 31st of this year.  

While he is probably best known for his operatic works, such as Satyagraha and Einstein on the Beach, and his music for classic films such as Jean Cocteau's La Belle et La Bete and Tod Browning's Dracula and more contemporary films, including Koyaanisqatsi, Kundun, The Truman Show and The Illusionist, and his many other symphonic, orchestral and chamber works, he has often dipped a toe or sometimes an entire foot into the world of popular music.  In fact, his Symphony No. 1: Low, and Symphony No. 4: Heroes, were based on the music from the two albums of the same names by David Bowie.

He has collaborated with artists as diverse as Ravi Shankar, Leonard Cohen, Paul Simon, David Byrne, Patti Smyth, Suzanne Vega, The Roches and many others, as well as creating shorter, slightly more pop-oriented works of his own.

This week's Whizbang opens with a salute to the music of this almost insanely diverse and prolific composer, focussing mostly on his non-classical work and mixing things up with some random songs about glass, just for variety's sake.

Tuesday 1/31/12, 8-10 PM.  Rebroadcast Friday midnight after P5K.