A composer of several operas and chamber works, Ms. Newlin began exploring popular music in the mid-1980s. Inspired by her college students, she sang and played keyboards in a band called Apocowlypso. More recently she performed as a flame-haired punk rocker and performance artist, singing works such as “Murder Kitty,” composed solely of meows.
I think we can say with some certainty that she did not go quietly into that good night.
December 10, 2008 at 2:02 am
In my first analysis class with Dika Newlin at North Texas State University, I realized imediately that this person had an expansive and brilliant mind like no others and yet was the dirtiest person one would ever meet. Such a paradox. Every class the same dress and each progressive class the more things found their way into her hair. Perhaps the most amazing mind I will ever meet. Each class continued to amaze.