Terry Riley is a pioneering American composer and performer whose groundbreaking explorations in minimalism reshaped contemporary music. Emerging in the 1960s with his landmark composition *In C*, Riley introduced repetitive patterns and improvisation as core compositional tools, influencing generations of artists across classical, jazz, rock, and electronic genres. His work often intertwines Western and Indian classical traditions, reflecting years of study with Indian vocal master Pandit Pran Nath. Continually inventive, Riley’s hypnotic sound worlds remain a cornerstone of experimental and minimalist music.