French musical giant Pierre Boulez, a prolific composer and conductor who was a keen proponent of contemporary music, has died aged 90, his family said Wednesday. "For all those who knew him and who appreciated his creative energy, his artistic rigour, his openness and his generosity, his presence will remain alive and intense," the family said in a statement from the Philharmonie de Paris, which Boulez spearheaded.
The world-renowned composer and virtuoso pianist, who died Tuesday in Baden-Baden, Germany, had been considered one of the most influential voices in contemporary music since the 1950s. A frequent guest conductor for great orchestras on both sides of the Atlantic, Boulez famously shunned the baton, always conducting with his hands. By the end of his life, Boulez was better known and more frequently played overseas.