A moment of silence for one of the greats…

Dika Newlin, a composer and musicologist who was deeply influenced by avant-garde master Arnold Schoenberg and brought his style into the punk rock era, has died. She was 82.

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.

One Response to “A moment of silence for one of the greats…”

  1. hunnicutt, larry Says:

    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.

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