Pauline Oliveros

Pauline Oliveros (May 30, 1932 – November 24, 2016) was an American composer and accordionist. Considered a central figure in the development of post-war experimental and electronic music, she was a founding member of the San Francisco Tape Music Center in the early 1960s, and served as its director. She taught music at Mills College, the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), Oberlin Conservatory of Music, and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Oliveros authored books, formulated new music theories, and investigated new ways to focus attention on music including her concepts of “deep listening” and “sonic awareness”, drawing on metaphors from cybernetics. She was an Eyebeam resident. Early life and education Pauline Oliveros was born in Houston, Texas, on May 30, 1932. She was of Tejana descent. She went on to learn violin, piano, tuba, and French horn for grade school and college music. At the age of sixteen she resolved to become a composer. Oliveros arrived in California and supported herself with a day job, and supplemented this by giving accordion lessons. Career When Oliveros turned 21, she obtained her first tape recorder, which led to her creating her own electroacoust