 In 1968, he founded an experimental performance company, the Byrd Hoffman School of Byrds (named for a teacher who helped him overcome a severe stutter while a teenager).With this company, he directed his first major works, beginning with 1969's "The King of Spain" and "The Life and Times of Sigmund Freud".He began to work in opera in the early 1970s, creating "Einstein on the Beach" with composer Philip Glass.