Descriptive Summary
Restrictions
Acquisition Information
Preferred Citation
Scope and Content of Collection
Biography
Digital Content
Descriptive Summary
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla 92093-0175
Title: Pauline Oliveros Papers
Creator:
Oliveros, Pauline, 1932-2016
Identifier/Call Number: MSS 0102
Physical Description:
20.4 Linear feet
(31 archives boxes, 7 flat boxes, 2 map case folders, and 2 card file boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1931-1981
Abstract: Papers of Pauline Oliveros (1932-2016), American experimental musician, composer and key figure in the development of contemporary
electronic music. The collection contains Oliveros' original writings, compositions, correspondence and sketches. Also included
are interviews, programs and reviews, teaching materials and writings about and relating to Oliveros' work.
Languages:
English
.
Restrictions
Original media formats are restricted. Viewing/listening copies may be available for researchers.
Acquisition Information
Acquired 1981-1996.
Preferred Citation
Pauline Oliveros Papers, MSS 102. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego.
Scope and Content of Collection
Papers of Pauline Oliveros, composer, accordionist and former music professor at UCSD. Materials include correspondence, works
and writings by Pauline Oliveros and others, manuscripts of Oliveros' compositions, subject files, reel-to-reel audio tapes
and ephemera. These materials were originally located at UCSD's Music Library.
Arranged in eleven series: 1) WORKS BY PAULINE OLIVEROS, 2) WRITINGS, 3) PROJECTS, 4) INTERVIEWS AND CRITICISMS, 5) PROGRAMS
AND REVIEWS, 6) UNIVERSITY MATERIALS, 7) WORKS BY OTHERS, 8) WRITINGS BY OTHERS, 9) CORRESPONDENCE, 10) BIOGRAPHICAL and 11)
ELECTRONIC MUSIC SYSTEMS.
Biography
Pauline Oliveros was born in Houston, Texas in 1932. An accomplished accordionist, composer and teacher, she is an instrumental
figure in the world of electronic music. Oliveros was a founding member of the San Francisco Tape Music Center, a resource
for electronic music in the 1960s. Later, the Center moved to Mills College and became the Center for Contemporary Music where
Oliveros was the Center's first director.
Oliveros' teaching career spans several decades. She left Mills College in 1967 when she accepted a faculty position at the
University of California, San Diego. From 1976-1979 Oliveros served as the director of the Center for Music Experiment (CME),
later renamed The Center for Research in Computing and the Arts (CRCA) at UCSD.
In 1981 she moved to upstate New York to work as an independent composer and performer. She then became the Distinguished
Research Professor of Music at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, in Troy, New York and the Darius Milhaud Artist-in-Residence
at Mills College.
Oliveros is the founder of The Deep Listening Institute, formerly the Pauline Oliveros Foundation. In 1991 she coined the
term "Deep Listening". The Institute explains Deep Listening philosophy , stating that it "distinguishes the difference between
the involuntary nature of hearing and the voluntary selective nature of listening. The result of the practice cultivates appreciation
of sounds on a heightened level, expanding the potential for connection and interaction with one's environment, technology
and performance with others in music and related arts." Out of this philosophy, Oliveros formed the Deep Listening Band with
fellow musicians David Gamper and Stuart Dempster.
Oliveros has been a great influence on American electronic and experimental music. In 2009, she won the William Schuman Award
for lifetime achievement from Columbia University and in 2010, a retrospective of her work from 1960 to 2010 was performed
in honor of the award.
On March 19th, 2012, Oliveros became the recipient of the John Cage Award from the Foundation of Contemporary Arts. Also
in 2012, Pauline Oliveros celebrated her 80th birthday with year long celebration performances, Deep Listening activities
and residencies.
Some of her notable works include
Sonic Meditations,
Sound Patterns, and
Theater of Substitution series. She has also written several books on music theory and electronic music including
Sounds the Margins: Collected Writings 1992-2009,
Deep Listening: A Composer's Sound Practice,
Roots of the Moment,
Software for People: Collected Writings 1963-80. Oliveros died November 24, 2016 in Kingston, New York.
Digital Content
Most of the Pauline Oliveros Papers have been digitized, with the exception of oversize (material with "FB" or "MC" container
designations) and some published content. Many folders in the collection, such as writings and correspondence, may be viewed
without restriction by clicking directly on the blue title links. Musical works and compositions, and related materials in
shared folders with musical works and compositions, may only be viewed by registered users through the Library's Virtual Reading
Room service. Please request all musical works directly from the finding aid for access facilitated through the Library's
virtual reading room service.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Music -- 20th century
Avant-garde (Music) -- United States -- 20th century
Composers -- United States -- 20th century
Electronic music
Computer music
Deep Listening Band
Deep Listening Institute
University of California, San Diego. Center for Research in Computing and the Arts
University of California, San Diego. Center for Music Experiment