Philip Glass Ensemble: Early Works

Saturday, November 22, 2025 @ 7:30pm

McCarter Theatre Center (Matthews Theatre)
91 University Place, Princeton, NJ 08540

The Philip Glass Ensemble (PGE), founded in 1968, is the original performing group dedicated to the music of groundbreaking composer Philip Glass. Conceived as a laboratory for his evolving sound, the Ensemble became the birthplace of many of Glass’ most influential works, including the marathon masterpiece Music in Twelve Parts and the iconic score for the Koyaanisqatsi trilogy. For more than 55 years, the PGE has brought Glass’s singular sound to the world’s most prestigious stages—from Carnegie Hall and the Hollywood Bowl to London’s Royal Festival Hall and the Sydney Opera House. 

Early Works revisits the roots of Glass’s musical language. This celebratory program features selections from the cult-favorite Glassworks album, the groundbreaking opera Einstein on the Beach, and other seminal compositions. It offers an immersive journey through the pulse, repetition, and energy that define Glass’s early style. Each work in the program was composed specifically for—and remains performed exclusively by—the Philip Glass Ensemble.