COMPOSER DIKA NEWLIN DIES

Last updated: Saturday, July 29, 2006

COMPOSER DIKA NEWLIN DIES

Composer and musicologist DIKA NEWLIN has died at the age of 82.

Newlin, who was deeply influenced by the avant-garde master ARNOLD SCHOENBERG and brought his style into the punk rock era, died last Saturday (22JUL06) at a nursing home in Richmond, Virginia.

She was a child prodigy who received her bachelor's degree from Michigan State at the age of 16 and studied the then-radical 12-tone method of composition with Schoenberg.

Newlin was one of the last surviving pupils of the Austrian composer, who is portrayed as a domineering, abusive teacher in SCHOENBERG REMEMBERED, a collection of her diaries that were published in 1980.

Newlin taught at various universities including Virginia Commonwealth, where she was a professor of composition from 1978 until her retirement two years ago.

Through the years, she wrote operas, piano concertos, a symphony and chamber music.

She later veered into punk rock, performing with a band called APOCOWLYPSO in Richmond, where she was known as a quirky elfin figure with a thatch of hair dyed in wild colours.

She also appeared in the cult film DIKA: MURDER CITY.

| Saturday, July 29, 2006

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