Rome, May 28: Luciano Berio, 77, considered Italy`s foremost music composer of the late 20th century, died today in a Rome hospital. Lalla Brau, a spokeswoman for the National Academy of St. Cecilia in Rome, a prestigious classical music venue, said Berio was admitted to Gemelli Polyclinic Hospital yesterday.
He had recently been treated in another hospital for a spinal problem, but Brau said she didn`t know the cause of death. Berio, who was also a conductor, was particularly noted for innovations in electronic music, and he taught courses on electronic music at Columbia University in New York.
He had been chairman and superintendent of St. Cecilia since September 2000. "With the passing of Luciano Berio, we have lost one of the most representative protagonists of avant-garde music on the international level," said Italy`s Minister of Culture, Giuliano Urbani.
Born in a town on Italy`s northwest Ligurian coast on Oct. 24, 1925, he grew up in a family of musicians, first studying music with his father and grandfather.
When, in 1990, he was awarded, along with violinist Yehudi Menuhin, a wolf prize for the arts, he was hailed by the selection committee as "one of the greatest composers of our generation whose new ideas, in an age of devaluation of human values, help to unify nations, cultures and generations." Bureau Report