David Tudor is something of a legend in the world of American experimental music. For a number of years following the Second World War, he was the only performer to devote himself systematically to this music. In so doing, Tudor became a touchstone for some of the most radical musical activity of the 20th century. Famous premiers and early performances of works by John Cage, Pierre Boulez, Morton Feldman, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Sylbano Bussotti, Earle Brown, among others, highlighted Tudor's interpretive and technical virtuosity. In the late 1960s, Tudor gradually ended his career as a pianist and begin to focus on, and develop, what was later called "live electronic music." He became immersed in electronic performance and worked on compositional, technical and manufacturing developments in the medium. Tudor has been affiliated with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company since its inception in 1953 and has supplied the company with many commissioned works, including Rainforest I (1968), Phonemes (1981), Virtual Focus (1990), and Neural Synthesis (1992).