Joshua Kosman December 14, 2020Updated: December 17, 2020, 1:28 pm
Composer Pauline Anna Strom Photo: Aubrey Trinnaman
Composer Pauline Anna Strom, who earned a small but devoted following in the early 1980s with a series of probing electronic soundscapes released under the name Trans-Millennia Consort, was found dead in her San Francisco apartment on Sunday, Dec. 13. She was 74.
Her death was confirmed Monday, Dec. 14, by record producer Matt Werth, who reissued her music in a 2017 compilation on his label RVNG Intl. No cause of death was given.
Working alone with low-tech equipment — a few elementary synthesizers, a four-track tape recorder — Strom created music infused with a keen spiritual edge and an appreciation of nature. Under titles such as “Mushroom Trip” and “Rain on Ancient Quays,” her compositions, which often grew out of marathon solo improvisation sessions, fused psychedelia with an expansive sense of time.