New York-born flute and trumpet player Rhys Chatham (1952), a student of Morton Subotnick and then La Monte Young, and founder of the music program at the Kitchen Center (1971), joined the avantgarde with compositions in just intonation and compositions incorporating the overtone series, such as the mesmerizing Two Gongs (1971) and Still Sound In Motion (1973); but also bridged rock music and the avantgarde with compositions such as Guitar Trio (1977), collected with other works on Factor X (Moers Music, 1983), Drastic Classicism (1981), that weds a high-speed locomotive rhythm and hysterically distorted metallic strings, Minerva (1988), and The Heart Cries with Many Voices (1990) for voice, guitars, bass and drums.

Die Donnergotter (Dossier, 1986 - Table Of The Elements, 2006) contained the 22-minute Die Donnergotter (1986), Guitar Trio (1977) and the tribal atonal infernal 19-minute Massacre On MacDougal Street (1982) for four trumpets, three trombones and tuba, perhaps his masterpiece.

He also worked on multimedia projects, notably the opera XS (1986) in collaboration with visual artist Joseph Nechvatal.

The five-movement An Angel Moves Too Fast To See (1989), Warehouse of Saints - Songs for Spies (1991) and Tauromaquia (1993) were all scored for 100 electric guitars, bass and drums.

A Rhys Chatham Compendium (Table of the Elements, 2002) and the three-CD box-set An Angel Moves Too Fast To See (Table of Elements, 2003) are career-spanning anthologies. Two Gongs (1971) was also released on Two Gongs (Table Of The Elements, 2006).

His interest for chamber music of a more conventional kind, already manifested in For Brass (1982), collected with other works on Factor X (Moers Music, 1983) and later renamed Massacre on MacDougal St, blossomed with Les Vespres de la Vierge (1992) for voice, trumpets, saxophones, trombone, tuba, percussion.

Chatham the trumpet player enjoyed polluting jazz, avantgarde, techno, trip-hop and acid-rock in the EP Neon (NTone, 1996) and Septile (NTone, 1998). and recorded Hardedge (Wire Editions, 1999), mixing his trumpet with a crew of improvisors and drum machines.

He has also performed a Symphony No 4 (1994) for full orchestra.

Echo Solo (Table of the Elements, 2004) collects two improvised pieces for just-intoned piano.

Three Aspects of the Name (Table of the Elements, 2004) documents a vocal piece that employs a minimalist technique of gradual development by iteration (a` la Steve Reich).

A Crimson Grail (Table Of The Elements, 2007) is an ambitious piece for 400 electric guitars premiered in 2005 in Paris' basilica of Sacre-Coeur. Unlike his early works, this piece indulges in static drones and ecstatic atmospheres. The first movement rises and decays in a majestic manner like a cosmic wind, the orchestra basically divided in two groups, one of countless guitars strumming in unison like one giant string instrument and one of guitars that emit choir-like drones. The latter seem to prevail achieving a Verdi-an intensity. The monolithic cohesive power of the first movement is completely lost in the much looser second movement, that even sounds like the orchestra is simply tuning the instruments and rehearsing rather than performing a score, even though suddenly the indolent strumming comes together for a formidable collective orgasm. The third movement is one colossal wall of droning that gets bigger and bigger, a tidal wave that approaches at a slow but steady pace. Unfortunately Chatham does not know how to capitalize on the effect after he has created it and the movement ends abruptly.

The triple-disc Guitar Trio Is My Life (Table Of The Elements) documents three performances of his Guitar Trio.

Outdoor Spell (Northern Spy, 2011) contains chamber pieces composed in 2009, notably Outdoor Spell for trumpet and voice, the solo-trumpet piece Crossing the Sword Bridge of the Abyss, Corn Maiden's Rite is for trumpet cajon (a box-shaped percussion instrument originally from Peru), and The Magician for trumpet, electric guitar, and drums.

Reve Parisian (Primary Information, 2011) collects three compositions for solo trumpet and one long compositions for for multiple trumpets, Un Chanson Si Vieille.

Harmonie du Soir (Northern Spy, 2013) contains three compositions. Harmonie du Soir (2012), apparently unrelated to Franz Liszt's etude transcendante, was scored for six electric guitars, electric bass and drums (the same orchestration as Die Donnergotter). It builds up to an anthemic gallop with ska-tinged metronomy, then suddenly it implodes into a chaotic noisy jam and it restarts in a warmer quasi-jazz style. The Dream of Rhonabwy (2012) for a 70-piece brass ensemble and percussion begins like a pensive funeral march but in the second half it loses its way, hijacked by exotic detours and psychedelic drones. By comparison, the shorter Drastic Classicism Revisited (2012) is a slab of visceral punk-rock, a calculated onslaught of frenzied rhythm and ear-splitting dissonance, and, by far, the most exciting piece on this album.

The triple-disc Youuu + Mee = Weee (Sub Rosa, 2014) documents a collaboration between Charlemagne Palestine and Rhys Chatham.

Pythagorean Dream (Foom, 2016), enterely performed by him on electric guitar, flute and trumpet, contains the lengthy suite Pythagorean Dream and the 14-minute Whitechapel Brass Variations.