Betsy Jolas Turns 100 Today and Is Still Writing Music. Pay Attention.

Betsy Jolas turned 100 years old today, August 5th, and she is still composing. That sentence alone should stop you in your tracks. The French-American composer, a student of Olivier Messiaen and one of the most significant voices in post-war contemporary music, has been writing music for eight decades, and the performing arts world's failure to treat her as the living legend she is says more about the field than it does about her.