CLASSICAL20.COM

Composer Pauline Oliveros, a faculty member at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, has been named winner of the William Schuman Award from Columbia University. She is the first woman to be honored in the 29-year history of the prize for American composers.

Oliveros, 78, will receive $50,000 and her work will be featured during a concert on March 27 at the Miller Theater on the Columbia University campus in upper Manhattan. Performers in the retrospective marathon evening include the International Contemporary Ensemble and the Deep Listening Band.

Oliveros lives in Kingston, where she heads the Deep Listening Institute. She is recognized as a leader in experimental and electronic music.