Lukas Ligeti (born in Vienna, Austria) studied Composition and Jazz Drums at the Vienna Music Academy. He was resident in the San Francisco Bay Area 1994-96 as a visiting composer at the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics at Stanford University. He is presently based in New York City.

Lukas Ligeti's compositions have been performed by ensembles such as the Austrian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Ensemble Modern, London Sinfonietta, Ensemble "die reihe", Vienna Saxophone Quartet, and the Kronos Quartet. His The Chinese Wall (1992) for orchestra and Frozen State of Song (1990-93) for saxophone quartet have been recorded for release on CD later in 1996. As a drummer, he has performed in numerous bands playing jazz, rock, and improvised music.

Lukas Ligeti has received Composition Grants of the City of Vienna (1989, 1993), a Composition Prize of the City of Vienna (1990), Austrian State Grants for Composition (1991, 1996), a Prize of the Austrian Ministry for Science and Research (1993), and a Composition Fellowship of the Santa Clara County Arts Council (1995).

In 1994, on a commission by the Goethe Institute, he led a workshop and cultural exchange project together with Kurt Dahlke in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire. As a result of this project, the group "Be-Ta-Foli," featuring 13 African traditional musicians, Dahlke, and Ligeti, was formed. In October 1996, just before the third Other Minds Festival, he returned to Cote d'Ivoire, again on a commission from the Goethe Institute, to continue work with Be-Ta-Foli.