Claude Vivier, born in Montréal in 1948 and died in Paris in 1983, is considered one of the most important Canadian composers of the 20th century. He studied at the Conservatoire de Musique de Montréal, at the Institute for Sonology at the University of Utrecht, and in Cologne with Karlheinz Stockhausen at the Hochschule für Musik. After living in Canada and longer trips to Asia and the Middle East, he lived in Paris. At the age of only 34, Claude Vivier was killed in his apartment.