Ton de Leeuw

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Ton de Leeuw (born Rotterdam, 16 November 1926, died Paris, 31 May 1996) was a Dutch composer. He was known for his experiments with microtonality.

Taught by Olivier Messiaen and others, and influenced by Béla Bartók, he was a teacher at the University of Amsterdam and later professor of composition and electronic music at the Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam from 1959 to 1986. Among his notable students are Gheorghi Arnaoudov, Michail Goleminov, Walter Hekster, Liza Lim, Chiel Meijering, and Otto Sidharta.

He visited India and Japan in the 1960s and became interested in the idea of ‘world music’. He wrote one opera, Antigone (1990–1991).