German composer, born November 27, 1935 in Stuttgart.

After his music studies (piano a.o.) at the Stuttgart Conservatory, Helmut Lachenmann went on to study composition first in Venice with Luigi Nono, then with Karlheinz Stockhausen.
His first works marked the beginning of his systematic exploration of the various modes of instrumental playing, electing as the very project of his oeuvre the noises produced during instrumental playing and the dynamic qualities of such sounds.Lachenmann likes to describe it as instrumental musique concrète. He is acknowledged as the leader of the Klang Composition school.

Married to pianist Yukiko Sugawara.