On May 30, 1932, composer, accordionist, and theorist Pauline Oliveros was born in Houston.
At age 16, she acquired her first accordion and decided she wanted to be a composer. She relocated to San Francisco in 1952 where she studied with early innovators of avant-garde electronic music like La Monte Young, Terry Riley, and Steve Reich.
For her 21st birthday in 1953, Oliveros received a gift from her mother that proved a major inspiration in her work: A tape recorder. Throughout the decade, Oliveros established her practices with tape and electronic music, and in 1959 she co-founded the San Francisco Tape Music Center…