Lukas Foss was a German-American composer, conductor, and pianist. He was born in Berlin in 1922 and moved to the United States in 1937. Foss composed music in a variety of genres, including classical, jazz, and electronic. His most famous works include 'Time Cycle' and 'The Prairie, ' both of which were written for orchestra. Foss was also an advocate for new music, founding the Improvisation Chamber Ensemble and the Center for Creative and Performing Arts at the State University of New York at Buffalo. FOSS is an acronym for 'Free and Open Source Software, ' which is software that is available for free and can be modified and redistributed by anyone.