Beverly Grigsby

Beverly Grigsby (née Pinsky, January 11, 1928 – August 22, 2022) was an American composer, musicologist and electronic/computer music pioneer. Early life Beverly Pinsky was born in Chicago, Illinois, and studied music and ballet as a child. She danced in Chicago Civic Opera’s ballet chorus. She moved to California with her family at the age of 13 and graduated from Fairfax High School at age 16. Education Grigsby entered the University of Southern California to study pre-med, and also studied composition with Ernst Krenek at the Southern California School of Music and the Arts. She earned Bachelor of Arts (in 1961) and Master of Arts (in 1963) degrees in composition from San Fernando Valley State College (now California State University, Northridge); upon graduation she was hired to teach at her alma mater. In 1971 she earned a Doctorate of Musical Arts in composition from the University of Southern California. She later studied computer music generation at Stanford University’s Center for Artificial Intelligence (CCRMA) and at M.I.T. in 1975-1976. She taught theory, composition, and musicology there until her retirement in 1993. Her studio focused on analog synthesis, electronic m