American cellist, conductor, and composer;b. N.Y., Nov. 24, 1953. Machover studied composition at the University of California, Santa Cruz (1971-73), Columbia University (1973-74), and the Juilliard School in N.Y., where he earned his bachelors degree in music in 1975, and his master's two years later. Among his teachers were noted modern composers LUIGI DALLAPICCOLA, ROGER SESSIONS, and ELLIOTT CARTER. Machover also studied computer music at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and at Stanford University.

Machover was first cellist in the orchestra of the National Opera of Canada in Toronto in 1975-76. He then moved to Paris, where he worked at PIERRE BOULEZ'S center for electronic composition, IRCAM, serving as guest composer in 1978-79 and director of musical research from 1980 to 1984. In 1985 he joined the electronic-music faculty at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he also was director of its Experimental Media Facility from 1986. Among his honors were the Koussevitzky Prize in 1984 and the Friedheim Award in 1987. He edited the books Le Compositeur et l'ordinateur (Paris, 1981) and Musical Thought at IRCAM (London, 1984) and was the author of Quoi, quand, comment? La Recherche musicale (Paris, 1985; English translation, 1988, as The Concept of Musical Research) and Microcomputers and Music (N.Y., 1988).

While he has written for purely acoustic sound sources, Machover is primarily associated with electroacoustical experiments and live interactive installations. His best-known work is the opera Valis, based on a Philip K. Dick novel, which premiered in Paris in 1987. He has also written several orchestral works, solo acoustic works, and piano pieces, as well as many pieces for electronic instruments and recording tape.