26. PAULINE OLIVEROS

Unimaginative musicologists would likely classify the bulk of Pauline Oliveros’ creations as

“ambient,” perhaps the outer limits of jazz or classical, but she really excelled at unifying the realms of electronics and nature through music. A gifted improviser and staunch advocate of “deep listening” (her term), she began folding environmental sounds into her work as a child in Houston, a practice she continued until her death in 2016. Works like 1967’s “Alien Bog” invoke a sense of suspended animation, while the title of one of her last pieces aptly summarizes Oliveros’s prolific career: “Sound Geometries.” Very sound.

Most Texas musical moment: 1982 album “Accordion & Voice” showcases the instrument Oliveros favored since childhood.