A native of Waco, Texas, Robert Wilson arrived in New York in 1963. Soon thereafter, he set to work with his Byrd Hoffman School of Byrds and developed his first signature works including King of Spain (1969), Deafman Glance (1970), The Life and Times of Joseph Stalin (1973) and A Letter for Queen Victoria (1974). Turning his attention to large-scale opera, with Philip Glass he created Einstein on the Beach (1976). At the Schaubühne he created Death, Destruction & Detroit (1979) and Death, Destruction & Detroit II (1987); and at the Thalia he presented The Black Rider (1991) and Alice (1992). His work in opera includes Parsifal (seen in Los Angeles in 2005), Madame Butterfly (seen in Los Angeles in 2004, 2006, and 2008); Lohengrin at the Metropolitan Opera (1998, 2006) and the Ring cycle in Zurich (2002) and at the Châtelet in Paris (2006). (www.RobertWilson.com)