Dika Newlin facts for kids

Dika Newlin was a talented musician and professor.

Dika Newlin (born November 22, 1923 – died July 22, 2006) was an amazing American musician. She was a composer, a pianist, a professor, and a music expert. She even became a punk rock singer later in her life! Dika earned her Ph.D. from Columbia University when she was only 22 years old.

She was one of the last students of the famous composer Arnold Schoenberg. She also taught at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond from 1978 to 2004. In her seventies, she performed as an Elvis impersonator and played punk rock music in Richmond, Virginia. A documentary film called Dika: Murder City was made about her life.

Early Life and Amazing Talent

Dika Newlin was born in Portland, Oregon. Her unique first name was chosen by her mother. It came from a poem by Sappho about an Amazon warrior. Her parents were university professors. Her family moved to East Lansing, Michigan for her father's job at Michigan State University.

Even though her parents weren't musicians, her grandmother taught piano. Her uncle was also a composer. Dika was very smart; she could read a dictionary by age three! She started piano lessons at age six. Her teacher, Arthur Farwell, encouraged her to compose music. When she was just eight, she wrote a symphonic piece called Cradle Song. This piece was later performed by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra when she was eleven.

A few years later, in 1941, her work was performed in New York. Another young talent, 11-year-old Lorin Maazel, conducted the orchestra. Her composition teacher was very impressed. He told her parents she should study with Arnold Schoenberg, a very important composer. He said it was "exactly the right time" for her to learn from him.

Education and Learning from a Master

Dika Newlin started elementary school at age five and finished by age eight. She graduated from high school when she was 12. Then, she started college at Michigan State University, where her parents taught. During her third year of college, she went to the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). This is where Schoenberg was teaching at the time.

She returned to Michigan State in 1939. At age 16, she earned her bachelor's degree in French literature. After that, she went back to Los Angeles to keep studying with Schoenberg. Her mother went with her because Dika was still so young.

Dika kept a diary of her time studying with Schoenberg. She called him "Uncle Arnold." In 1980, she published this diary as a book. It was called Schoenberg Remembered: Diaries and Recollections (1938-76). One story from her diary tells how Schoenberg told her that her string quartet music sounded "too much like piano music." When she agreed it wasn't her best work, Schoenberg joked, "No, it is not the best, nor even the second best—perhaps the 50th best, yes?"

She finished her master's degree in 1941. Then, she went to Columbia University for her doctorate. In 1945, at age 22, she received Columbia's first doctorate in musicology. Her doctoral paper was published as a book in 1947. It was called Bruckner, Mahler, Schoenberg. While at Columbia, she studied with other famous musicians like Roger Sessions and Artur Schnabel.

A Career in Music and Teaching

After getting her doctorate, Dika Newlin taught at Western Maryland College and then at Syracuse University. She continued to work with Schoenberg during the summers of 1949 and 1950. Around this time, she decided to write a book about his life. She received a Fulbright grant to research his early years in Vienna, Austria.

She spent a year in Austria. She also performed in Paris and gave talks about American music. She even made recordings with violist Michael Mann. In 1952, she performed her own Piano Trio, op. 2, in Salzburg.

When she returned to the United States, she started the music department at Drew University. She taught there until 1965. Then, she moved to the University of North Texas. In 1973, she went to Montclair State University to lead their Electronic Music Laboratory. In 1976, she took a break to write and compose. In 1978, she joined Virginia Commonwealth University. There, she helped create a new doctoral program in music.

Dika Newlin was one of Schoenberg's last living students. She was also a leader in studying Schoenberg's music in America. She wrote a biography of Schoenberg for the Encyclopædia Britannica. She also wrote many other articles and translated musical works.

Her own compositions include three operas, a piano concerto, and many other pieces. She also translated many of Schoenberg's works from German to English. In 1999, she even sang in a costumed performance of Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire, which she had translated herself.

The Punk Rocker

In the mid-1980s, Dika Newlin showed a new side of herself. She became a punk rocker! She wore leather clothes and had bright orange hair. In this new style, she appeared in horror movies made in Richmond, Virginia. In the 1995 film Creep, she played a character who put poison in baby food.

That same year, a documentary about her was made, called Dika: Murder City. The title came from a song she performed. She formed a band called ApoCowLypso in 1985. With her band, Dika sang and played percussion like the washboard and tambourine. They had unique live shows and released some recordings.

Interesting Facts

In 1939, the New York Herald Tribune newspaper reported that Dika Newlin had the highest I.Q. score of any student at Michigan State University at that time.

In 1964, Dika Newlin was in London for a special performance. It was the first full version of Mahler's unfinished 10th Symphony. After the show, she gave a special medal to the person who had prepared the symphony.

Dika Newlin was known for her unique personality. Reporters who visited her home noticed a medieval suit of armor hanging over her bed! In the 1980s and 1990s, she was often seen in Richmond. She would push her papers and belongings in a shopping cart along the sidewalk. She walked between her teaching job at VCU and her newspaper job. She often wore a bright dress and red lipstick.

Dika Newlin passed away in Richmond, Virginia, on July 22, 2006. She had complications from a broken arm.

See also

In Spanish: Dika Newlin para niños