Vivian Adelberg Rudow stands out as a unique composer with the ability to craft both classical acoustic and electro-acoustic music, as well as works that blend these genres. Often regarded as a “sound portrait painter,” her performances resonate with deep emotions, personal experiences, and aspirations. Adelberg Rudow views contemporary pop music rhythms and vocabulary as the folk music of today, advocating for their integration into classical compositions, reminiscent of how composers like Brahms and Bartók incorporated folk elements into their works. Her music has reached audiences through numerous performances across the United States and internationally.

Over her distinguished career, she has received the ASCAP Plus awards for an impressive 29 consecutive years. In 1986, she achieved First Prize in the Program Division of the 14th International Electroacoustic Music Competition held in Bourges. Notably, she became the first Maryland composer to have a work performed by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall in 1982, under the baton of conductor Sergiu Comissiona. Throughout the 1970s, she garnered accolades for three winning pieces in the Annapolis Fine Arts Festival Music Composition Contests and secured First Prize in the solo and duet division of the International Double Reed Society Composition Contest in 1977. Her contributions to the arts have also been recognized with City Arts Individual Artist Grants in 1986 and 1992, a Maryland State Arts Council Fellowship in 1986, and a feature in the May 1989 issue of KEYBOARD MAGAZINE. Adelberg Rudow holds both Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from the Peabody Conservatory of Music at Johns Hopkins University.

In addition to her composing, Adelberg Rudow founded and served as Artistic Director of Res Musica Baltimore/Res MusicAmerica, Inc., which produced concerts primarily featuring works by American living composers from 1980 to 1991. During this time, she organized 52 concerts, 26 symposia, and 22 youth concerts for the Baltimore City Public Schools. In 1988, she produced the Res Musica International Electroacoustic Music Festival in Baltimore, which attracted composers from 14 countries and featured seven multimedia concerts, continuous electroacoustic music, ongoing video presentations, and 14 lecture demonstrations. In 1994, she led a full orchestra reading with the enlarged Goucher Chamber Symphony, conducted by Sebrina Alfonso, at the Kraushaar Auditorium, Goucher College. She also produced the Franz West concert for the Baltimore Composers Forum at the Baltimore Museum of Art in 2008 and has been involved in producing the Peggy and Yale Gordon Har Sinai Classical Music Series concerts since 1992.

In the realm of performance art, Adelberg Rudow developed “The Vivian Technique of Creating a Sound Collage,” a method that utilizes handheld remote controllers to manipulate at least four portable multi-track CD players on stage, allowing the creation of new live collage works. She demonstrated this technique in 2000 during a performance in Havana, Cuba, honoring Juan Blanco, and again at the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage in 2001, as well as in Havana, Cuba, once more in 2010.