Heiner Goebbels is a rockstar of composing. We've used a lot of descriptions in our text like "titan"  and  referred to him around our office as the "Jan Fabre of the composing world." But just who is Heiner Goebbels? Here are the top 5 things you need to know: 1. He was a member of an 80s avant rock band called Cassiber. 2. In his early composing career he frequently collaborated with Heiner Müller, who has been referred to as the most important 20th century playwright after Brecht. It's likely from Müller that Goebbels began to pick up his expertise in shaping the stage. 3. When Heiner composes, his works frequently end up looking more like plays or art installations. See his website for images and clips from past productions. 4. He rarely makes it over the US. The Baltimore Sun caught a performance of his in the east coast and said of his work that it's "the sort of music we need to stir things up once in a while, the sort of music we've been sorely missing." 5. Throughout his 30 year career he's won prestigious awards from 10+ countries and been nominated for multiple Grammy's. Want to find out more about Heiner? Be sure to see his work in action in Songs of Wars I Have Seen and hear him speak at Cornish on Friday. [Heiner Goebbels image from Artangel]