Thurs. Nov. 29

Composer Steve Reich (in photo) is a giant of modern, minimalist music. (Can one be a giant of minimalism? Hmm ... ) He came to our attention back in college with his brilliant "Music for 18 Musicians" album, and we played it incessantly as a dj at WMEB-FM years ago - segue-ing into "modern rock" by the Velvet Underground and Polyrock. That's to say we dug the connection between the classical guy and the rock guys and saw, at times, not that wide a gap in compositional approach. A slightly more elevated plug (from London's "The Guardian": "There's just a handful of living composers who can legitimately claim to have altered the direction of musical history and Steve Reich is one of them." Or from the New York Times: " ... our greatest living composer." Last year, Reich celebrated his 70th birthday with a piece called "Daniel Variations," which commerates Daniel Pearl, the journalist beheaded by terrorists in Pakistan. Reich will be in Boston Thursday Nov.29 for the second day of an event called "New England Conservatory Celebrates the Music of Steve Reich."  It's first come, first served, but the NEC recommends you show up early for the 8 p.m. concert at Jordan Hall.  Oh, and there is an earlier concert at Brown Hall (capacity around 300) at 5 p.m. with a different program.  Now, Reich is not performing or conducting, here. He is holding workshops with NEC students and he will be at the performances to take it all in.

Jordan and Brown Hall, 30 Gainsborough St., 617-585-1122 www.newenglandconservatory.edu/concerts