SATB Choir (2:30)

It was a joy composing ‘Tis You, a setting of Amy Lowell’s poem, Listening, for the Voorhees Choir of Douglass College conducted by Brandon Williams. They premiered it on 12/3/17, at 4:45 p.m. during the traditional Yule Log Ceremony at the Voorhees Chapel on the Douglass College campus, as part of the College Centennial celebrations. …

SSA divisi, String Quartet & Piano (4:10)

SSA divisi & PIano (4:10)

Treble chorus and piano

The UVA Percussion Ensemble, led by I-Jen Fang, has commissioned a percussion quintet

“…interesante uso de los silencios para que todo cree unaconversacion entre los instrumentos perfectamente bien balanceados.” –El Nuevo Dia

Amplified piano & percussion (8:15)

Judith will participate with performances of her music during  New Music on the Point, June 7 & 8, with Juraj Kojs as Interim-Artistic Director, and a terrific group of performers and composers.  Her new version of Ice Becomes Water (amp. string quartet and electronics) will premiere on June 7, while Forest Music, inspired by trees ...

3/29/12 6:00 PM–8:00 p.m. The Library of Virginia Lecture Hall & Lobby 800 East Broad Street Richmond, VA 23219

Soprano or Mezzo and Piano (4:45)

Electronic playback (3:00)

I had the great pleasure of serving as a Master Artist at the Atlantic Center for the Arts in New Smyrna Beach, FL, from 5/10 – 6/1/13. The Center is the marvelous brainchild of sculptor Doris Leeper and is set in gorgeous natural surroundings, with boardwalks used to connect the buildings. The staff is terrific ...

SATB Chorus (2:00)

Bass drum with optional interactive electronics (9:00)

Hehuanshan (Mountain of Joy), is scored for solo bass drum and optional interactive electronics. It is dedicated to ace percussionist I-Jen Fang.

Soprano or Mezzo, Flute, Clarinet, Violin, Cello, Piano (13:10) Version also available for Soprano or Mezzo & Piano

“Judith Shatin’s powerful Akhmatova Songs are luminous settings of three poems by the iconic Russian poet. While handsomely contrasting in mood, all three songs boast crystalline text settings and an ear for darkly glittering instrumental sonorities. The arresting second song, All Is Plundered, speaks of how the void left by an unnamed catastrophe is filled ...

Soprano or mezzo and piano (13:10)

SATB + Soprano Solo (4:00)

“The composer’s notes on this piece, a three-and-a-half minute elaboration of the word “Alleluia,” associate it with the September 11 terrorist attacks, saying that her intent is “to express a blend of comfort and defiance, to sing against the dark, but in knowledge of it.” Although the tempo indication is “Gently,” I find the effect ...

SSA Choir with Divisi (2:40)

Soprano and organ (6:00)

Concerto for Viola and Orchestra (17:00)

Three-part chorus, flute, cello, piano (3:00)

Oboe (8:00+)

Orchestra (18:35)

Cello (2:48)

Piano (1:14)

Voice (1:00)

Wind Ensemble & Electronics (10:00)

World Premiere of Being in Time, with the UVA Wind Ensemble, conducted by William Pease I originally imaged Being in Time as a piece scored for wind ensemble, gesture-controlled interactive electronics and interactive video. The blend of different media seemed wonderfully appealing, building on the timbral worlds and musical experiences that electroacoustic music affords. This is…

Being in Time is an Arts-in-Action project sponsored by the University of Virginia. Scored for conductor-controlled electronics, wind ensemble, and interactive video, it reflects a collaborative effort by team members from the McIntire Department of Music and Engineering School. I will introduce the piece on Friday, 4/18/14 at 3:30 – 5:00 p.m. at Open ...

The Jerusalem-based Atar Piano Trio, directed by pianist Ofer Shelley, commissioned a trio, To the Bird from a Distant Land, for their  program celebrating the 150th birthday of  iconic poet Hayim Bialik. The premiere at Studio Annette was such  a great success that they are now recording it!  Rather than create a song, I composed…

SATB Divisi (3:00)

Michael Slon, Director of the University Singers at UVA, wanted to commission a piece for the ensemble that would be a Hebrew setting of the original Priestly Blessing. He had heard it at a friend’s wedding and was drawn to it. Since he knew some of my prior Hebrew settings, he approached me about this…

Orchestra and electronics (15:35)

Carnegie Hall commissioned a new piece to premiere on October 28, 2016 at Zankel Hall at Carnegie. Meanwhile, I gave a public presentation on the technology and tried  out some sketches, called Red Moon, at the DiMenna Center for Classical Music in New York on March 5, 2016 in their CoLABoratory series. More details here. After the music ...

Video collaboration

New Trio for Cello, Horn & Piano Dur: 10:35

piping_pr

Mezzo or soprano and piano (20:00)

CD Review: Tower of the Eight Winds

The distinguished cellist Sophie-Justine Herr. based in Frankfurt am Maim will record For the Birds this spring. She is the third cellist to record this homage to birds,  following New York-based  cellist Madeleine Shapiro and Mexico City-based cellist Iracema de Andrade. The album will also feature music by Saariaho, Pagh-Paan, Fábregas and Grebchenko. Inspired by…

Piano (21:00)

3/2/12 8:00 p.m. St. Petersburg College; St. Petersburg, FL Pianist Chai Variations on Eliahu HaNavi

3/4/12 8:00 p.m. Steinway Piano Series University of South Florida; Tampa, FL Pianist Chai Variations on Eliahu HaNavi

“…Judith Shatin’s music has been well received in the pages of this magazine, including by myself. I have commented on her strong ability to create a narrative pulse in her work, calling her a natural story teller. That quality is much in evidence in this large and compelling composition. Chai Variations takes its main theme ...

This is a magnificent piece of piano music that should be in many, many pianists’ repertoires…”

String Quartet Dur. 21:00

Gann_American-Composer-Shatin_ChamberMusicAmerica-R This article is posted with the kind permission of Chamber Music America.

SSA + Piano Chanukah Song (2:00)

Amplified clarinet and electronics (7:52)

“…a new virtual landscape, completely natural and alive with a quiet serenity so powerful one can almost smell the cherry blossoms.” – The Clarinet Review, Eric Mandat “Judith Shatin’s elegant Cherry Blossom and a Wrapped Thing; After Hokusai, for amplified clarinet and multi-channel audio…aptly evoked the sensibilities of the original art and was easily the best piece ...

Electronic music for film (1:14:00)

Wind Quintet (7:35)

Electronic playback (19:00)

“Shatin’s Civil War Memories: Inside Out was one of the more compelling works. The audio electronically manipulates a short spoken text telling of the looted bodies of Civil War casualties. – The Miami Herald

Flute, Bb clarinet, tenor sax, violin, viola, cello, piano, percussion (9:45)

“Clave sounds like a deconstructed West Side Story, capturing the tropical heat and playfulness of the bomba beat” – The Kansas City Star

4/1/12 4:00 p.m. Christopher Newport University Ferguson Concert Hall Selah (female vocal quartet + harp, commissioned by Scottish Voices) CMS Regional Conference Website

Judith & Miner at Eaglesnest Mine in Twilight, WV   That Little Lump of Coal, first song https://www.judithshatin.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/ThatLittleLumpOfCoal.mp3 As a composer, you never know what path will open up in front of you! When long-time collaborator and dear friend, pianist Mary Kathleen Ernst, approached me about participating in a large-scale residency project in 1990, I…

Chorus, Appalachian Ensemble, Synthesizer, Electronics (90:00)

Soprano or Mezzo and English Horn, alto flute, clarinet, cello or viola (4:15)

Soprano and english horn (or alto flute, or clarinet, or viola) (3:25)

Canta da Sal

The Journal String Poet has commissioned a piece to be inspired by the winner of its 2014 poetry competition. This unusual program combines a poetry prize with a musical response. The piece will be premiered in September, 2014 at the same time as the reading of the poem at the Long Island Violin Shop in ...

Concert Band (3:30)

3/7-10/12 Performances of Hearing the Call, Elijah’s Chariot & View From Mt. Nebo Lectures and Forums More Info

Concert of Shatin’s Flute Music at the NFA Convention!

Solo Flute (5:25)

Chapter on Relational Capacities, Musical Ecologies – Ice Becomes Water

Viola and piano (6:10)

Flute and guitar (13:45)

“Judith Shatin has a strong musical personality, an assurance made firmer by this CD; it’s a major release.” – New Music Connoisseur *** “There is an earthy, even primeval energy in such pieces as Stringing the Bow and The Passion of St. Cecilia that breaks from the shackles of formality. This music has both a savage roar and, ...

Digital music (2:00)

Organ

“….the risk they run with an almost encyclopedic repertoire was more than compensated by the discovery of…Judith Shatin, of whom we appreciated a splendid Elijah’s Chariot.” – Il Gazzettino (Vicenza) “….More interesting was Elijah’s Chariot by Judith Shatin, which used the taped sound of the shofar (the rams’ horn used by Jews during a High ...

Amp. String quartet & electronics (19:45)

Solo Voice (1:40)

Judith Shatin, Kenan Professor of Music at the University of Virginia, writes music that is satisfyingly challenging, music that forces listeners to face up to their own perceptions of music, what it is and how it relates to other artistic disciplines.

Brass Quintet (9:40)

“…Having commissioned composer Judith Shatin to rework her piano concerto “The Passion of St. Cecilia” into a solo version, Henry performed the new piece, “Fantasy on St. Cecilia” in its world premiere at this recital. Opening with spine-tingling lower register reverberations, the piece seemed little more than a presentation of slightly outdated ideas. However, any ...

Piano (19:00)

Solo Flute (10:35)

Fasting Heart wins 2024 NFA Newly Published Award

Jefferson, In His Own Words, is based entirely on the writings of Thomas Jefferson, and gives an intimate view of Jefferson as both a public servant and private citizen. Excerpts 1. Political Passion 2. Head and Heart 3. Justice Never Sleeps 4. Freedom of Reason Perusal Score

The For the Birds and I Am Rose, with text by Gertrude Stein, will be performed, with the former by Kyra Saltman and the latter by the CCPA Conservatory Chorale, conducted by Mark Crayton. Both will be on the 7:30 p.m. final program at Ganz Hall of Roosevelt University. Shatin will also give a series ...

Featured at the 2012 International Viola Congress ” … musically riveting and brilliantly devised for the instrument...”  The Strad Doxa Score (viola & piano) Audio Excerpt: Doxa

Violin and piano or Violin, viola, cello, contrabass and piano (19:00)

Soprano, mezzo, tenor, baritone, bass, piano (55:00)

Amplified cello and electronics (14:00)

The story of For the Birds has two main sources: my strong interest in finding ways to call attention to the animals we live among and the importance of maintaining their habitats, and my friendship with the extraordinary cellist Madeleine Shapiro. In this piece, I wanted to draw attention to the remarkable voices of birds,…

“Judith Shatin’s For the Birds…is immediately appealing in its voluptuous blend of nature and electronics.” – Seen and Heard International Concert Review, Bruce Hodges

New recording of For the Birds: 3/8/24

Trumpet and stereo electronics (7:02) Also available for amplified cello, flute, soprano sax, violin

The marvelous Italian trumpeter Ivano Ascari contacted me on the recommendation of composer Fabrizio Festa, a mutual acquaintance. Ivano was creating a program in honor of the centennial of World War I and asked if I would  contribute to this effort. I thought it was an important project and agreed. Whenever I create a piece…

Amplified soprano saxophone and stereo electronics (7:02)

Imagining Worlds: Solo Music for Violin – Coming Soon!

Flute and piano (9:00)

Flute and cello (5:25)

“Gazebo Music, Judith Shatin's flute and cello piece composed for an open-air performance, effectively evokes a nature scene without resorting to blatant pastoral imitation.” - The Washington Post "The second piece – just six minutes long – was Judith Shatin’s Gazebo Music for flute and cello. Written in 1981 as an American Dance Festival (Durham, North Carolina) site-specific accompaniment…

I composed Gazebo Music, for flute and cello, while participating in the composer/choreographer workshop at the American Dance Festival held at Duke University in Durham, NC in the summer of 1981. There was an intense heat wave, and we were housed in dorms at Duke University with no air conditioning. We would  hang out on…

Electronic playback (1:00)

Solo viola, string quartet, piano (17:00) Or solo viola, string orch., piano

Solo viola, string orchestra, piano (18:00)

Amplified piano trio & stereo electronics (10:15)

Flexible ensemble (solo and chamber) with electronics & optional video (5:11)

Judith Shatin’s Grito del Corazón combined washes of harmony in tape and saxophone ...with a video whose shifting shapes moved with convincing (and often disturbing) physicality. The music and video grew together over the course of the work – the sax into melodies, and the video into human and animal forms dimly emerging. Both music…

Tenor Sax, electronic playback and optional video

I am so pleased to return to the Aspen Music Festival this summer, when Mehrdad Gholami will perform my flute concerto, Ruah, with the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble, conducted by Timothy Weiss on 8/3/19. Originally composed for flutist Renee Siebert, who also recorded it, the concerto reflects my long love of the instrument, one of the…

Judith returns to theGregor’s Dream on their July 24th program in the Benedict Music Tent, together with music by Reich (Vermont Counterpoint), Respighi (Violin Sonata in B minor) and Mozart (Piano and Wind Quintet in E-flat major, K. 452). You can purchase tickets here. Judith will also give a talk for the Composition Fellows, and ...

SATB Choir and piano (3:10)

2 Bb Trumpets and 2 Snare Drums (2:00)

When the National Symphony contacted me to compose a fanfare as part of their  Hechinger series of 25 fanfares, I was immediately intrigued.  While the scope was limited to a duration of two minutes and a small subgroup, it sounded like a fun project. As I thought about these criteria, I was drawn to the…

“….With the distinguished exception of “Hearing the Call,” a brief, effective fanfare in the form of double duet for two snare drums and two trumpets by Judith Shatin, this was an all-Beethoven program….” –Washington Post

“….Judith Shatin’s two-minute Hearing the Call – smartly, crisply scored for two trumpets and two snare drums – is the eponymous work for this collection, and is the perfect ceremonial attention-getter. She follows this work up with Fantasìa sobre el Flamenco for two trumpets, two trombones, and tuba (1998), a clash of bright and dark ...

Electronic playback (11:10)

Cello, piano, percussion (Theater piece) (55:00)

Electronic playback (3:08)

SATB, Children’s Choir (3:30)

Chorus (SSA) + electronics (3:00)

SATB Choir (4:20)

I Love was the direct result of a wonderful residency at Illinois Wesleyan University in March 2017, when I was invited as Featured Guest Composer for their annual Symposium of Contemporary Music an annual tradition since 1952! The residency included a concert of my music, a performance of Black Moon (orchestra + electronics) by their…

The Illinois Wesleyan University Collegiate Choir, director by J. Scott Ferguson, premieres I Love, with poetry by Gertrude Stein, on 3/2/19, First Presbyterian Church, Springfield, IL

Violin and piano (15:30)

String Orchestra & electronics (13:00)

My music often reflects my experience of and concerns about the world around us. Ice Becomes Water is informed by the danger that scientists are warning about caused by human-induced climate change.

Piano Trio (15:00)

“The other recent piece here is Ignoto Numine, a fine 15-minute work by the intriguing Judith Shatin. The profusion of musical ideas is both engaging and splendidly controlled; and it gets a committed reading.” – San Francisco Chronicle *** “Judith Shatin is Professor of Music at the University of Virginia. Her quarter-hour, single-movement work explores ‘the mystery of ...

“…The direction is from simplicity to complexity, clarity to mysticism . Tension builds to a final coda where instruments can no longer contain it, and the players are forced to join in vocally. This is another intriguing piece, in another very personal idiom.”   –Fanfare  *** “The other recent piece here is Ignoto Numine, a fine 15-minute ...

Illinois Wesleyan University has had an annual Symposium of Contemporary Music since 1952, and I am delighted to be the featured composer this year, with great thanks to composer David Vayo for his tremendous organizational efforts. It will be a packed couple of days, 11/16-17/17! I will be giving a talk on Thursday, 11/16 at ...

In a Flash Duration 2:00

“Shatin engages complex rhythms and timbre-play to create a fascinating palette of sound for what is essentially an orchestra-narrator duet. Maestro Steven Smith was attuned to this balance, and, just as importantly, to the shape of the music on its own….In the first movement, Political Passion, rhythms crackled like the fire in front of which ...

Narrator and orchestra (25:00)

The VCCA is a working retreat for visual artists, writers and composers, and Judith has had a half-dozen wonderful residencies, composing pieces such as Glyph, Ruah, Amulet, Spin and several others. The VCCA is on a beautiful estate very near Sweet Briar College.

Judith gave a talk on her work at the New World School of the Arts on Wed, Jan 15, 12-1, followed by work with composition students. Thursday afternoon, at 3:30, she gave another talk at the Florida International University Lincoln Rd. Studios, followed by a concert on Saturday, at 2:00 p.m. at the beautiful For ...

Judith is featured Artist of the Week on Radio Arts Indonesia, Nov. 30 – Dec. 6.This is a great chance to check out the huge range of her music. Just go to the Contemporary page under featured, for several opportunities to hear her music!

INTERVIEW “Timbral exploration and collaboration with performers lie at the heart of my musical life”: An Interview with Judith Shatin KRISTINA WARREN Judith Shatin is a composer and sound artist whose music engages our social, cultural, and physical environments. She is William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor Emerita at the University of Virginia, having retired in…

Judith has been chosen one of the top 26 women professors in Virginia for her innovative work combining the sounds of the world around us, both natural and built, in her award-winning compositions.

Amplified flute & interactive electronics (16:00)

The Kandinsky Trio has commissioned a new trio for their 25th Anniversary Season

Bb Clarinet, harp, string quintet (2 vn, va, vc, cb) (13:00)

The Kassia ensemble commissioned the first piece composed for their entire sparkling ensemble of clarinet, harp and string quintet, and I have responded with Kassia,  inspired by the 9th-century abbess, poet and hymnographer. She is the only woman whose music is included in the Eastern Orthodox Church liturgy, and likely the first woman whose music has survived until…

Vioinist Kevin Lawrence Performs Rising on the Wings of Dawn

Percussion Quintet (6:30)

Soprano, flute, and piano (1:00)

"Two works by Judith Shatin, her LíÈtude du Coeur for Solo Viola (1984) and her Doxa for Viola and Piano (a world premiere; both are dedicated to Glyde) proved musically riveting and brilliantly devised for the instrument." - The Strad "This six-minute work is filled with beautiful sonorities and harmonies and excellently exploits the tonal…

Soprano, Mezzo or Tenor & Piano (4:30)

SATB choir & piano, SSAA choir & piano or TTBB choir & piano (Dur. 4:30)

I felt called to compose La Frontera (The Border). a setting of the poem for SATB + piano., with additional versions for SSA, TTBB and solos for soprano and tenor. The poem bears witness to the struggles of an undocumented  youth trying to immigrate, but held in a maximum security detention center in the US. Information about…

Soprano, Mezzo or Tenor & Piano (4:30)

Piano Trio (5:00)

Trumpet, bassoon, piano (15:00)

Oboe and English Horn (3:45) Versions also for Ob. & Cl, Ob & Va, Alto Fl & Vc, Sop & Alto Sax, and for Vn & Vc

here. It has received lots of warm response, including this from Jazz Weekly: “The closing “Elijah’s Chariot” with The Cassatt String Quartet and electronics ends the album as a true Baal buster with lots of moments that are both cerebral and visceral.” –George W. Harris

Viola (6:30)

Viola & Marimba Dur. 9:00

Vocal quartet and piano 4-hands (19:00)

Judith served as  Master Artist at the Atlantic Center for the Arts  May 12-June 2, 2013, working with an exciting group of Associate Artists. Writer Geoff Dyer and Performance Artist Cosco Fusco are the other Master Artists for this residency.

Flutist Megan Shanley Alger has commissioned Luna, for amplified alto flute and electronics. Inspired by the amazing women who contributed crucially to the Apollo 11 moon landing, the title of this piece  refers to Luna, goodess of the moon in ancient Roman mythology.Female members of the Apollo Space Program included Bobbie Johnson, Judith Love Cohen, ...

Clarinet (9:00)

Brass Quintet Fanfare (5:00)

Solo Piano (Duration 2:00)

"Gabriel's Wing (1989) for flute and piano opens with the flutist singing and playing the same pitch. This odd combination makes the listener wonder just what he's hearing. It is an intense, dramatic piece primarily for solo flute, supported by the piano. It is one of the most gripping flute pieces I've heard, and in…

New Music Box interview with Frank J. Oteri (video) : Judith Shatin’s Multiple Histories

NMC_Vol12_Shatin_Interview

New-Music_Conoisseur-PIpingTheEarth

Come Live with Me – Wedding Song

“…Judith Shatin’s childlike round “Nun, Gimel, Hei, Shin” … sweetly echoes the spinning of the Hanukkah dreidel.” – Michael Barnes, Austin American-Statesman

Three-part chorus with optional piano accompaniment (3:00)

Wind quintet and piano (16:45)

“…Judith Shatin… writes in the most advanced style among these five works (using, for example, a prepared piano), but her writing is accessible and sustains interest throughout. Her Ockeghem Variations is not really in variation form at all, but includes five self-contained movements titled “Lustrous,” “Ringing,” “Electric,” “Floating,” and “Resounding.” The work is based on ...

Ockeghem Variations has a history that begins in Amsterdam, where I was travelling with my husband Michael, and where I met  flutist Wout van den Berg, the director of the Hexagon Ensemble, as well as a couple of his colleagues. I knew of the group’s broad repertoire, and we discussed the possibility of my composing…

“After the intermission, Ockeghem Variations received yet another excellent performance….The ensemble playing was both rock solid and quite beautiful. The variations – Lustrous, Ringing, Electric, Floating, and Resounding – were full of charm, jazzy exuberance, and moodiness….” –Susan Miron, www.artsfuse.org

“I love the water of wells and springs” (Wendell Berry) (10:00)

SATB Chorus (3:00)

Soprano and piano (20:00)

Cello (8:00)

Amplified viola and electronic playback (9:05) (Versions available for clarinet, flute, soprano saxophone, violin, or cello and electronic playback)

When violist Rozanna Weinberger and I first began discussing a piece for viola and electronics, I started thinking about possible jumping off points. The story of Penelope, wife of Ulysses, jumped into my mind, and I thought about how her story is a kind of shadow story in relation to his. I wanted to contribute…

Pianist Misa Ito will perform To Keep the Dark Away at the XXXV Foro Internacional de Musical Nueva Manuel Enriquez inMexico City – May 26, 12PM.

A wonderful collaboration!

Orchestra (8:30)

“Two new CD’s of music by Judith Shatin…offer convincing proof that she is a leading figure among composers in this country….Her mastery of colorful and imaginative instrumentation and subtle compositional technique are evident.” – C-ville Review “The evening’s high point came midway through the second half, with the premiere of Judith Shatin’s exuberant and captivating Piping the ...

When I was commissioned to compose an orchestral piece for the Women’s Philharmonic, with support both from the orchestra and National Endowment for the Arts Composition Fellowship, I did not begin with a clear idea of the composition. Rather, I let various ideas percolate, and kept my musical antennae up. One day, I attended a…

“The evening’s high point came midway through the second half, with the premiere of Judith Shatin’s exuberant and captivating ‘Piping the Earth.’ Vividly orchestrated and bursting with imaginative detail, the piece grabs a listener’s attention right from the opening moement, an ominous stillness in which a low wind can be heard creeping through the bassoons, ...

“Piping the Earth is a colorful and crowd-pleasing piece that works well in many concert contexts. It was a great pleasure for me and for the Richmond Symphony to discover this score, and our audiences loved the color, sweep and drama. It comments nicely on other orchestral pieces, or stands well by itself.” ...

Piano and electronics (12:00) Electronic source from readings by Charles Wright

Violin, viola, clarinet, bass clarinet (9:00)

Saxophonist Bill Perconti has released a CD, Women Composers and Their Music for Saxophone, on the Centaur label, including Shatin’s Grito del Corazon, for alto sax and electronics.

My residency, organized and with thanks to Dan Welcher, starts on Sunday, 10/1/17, with the performance of Being in Time for wind ensemble and electronics by the UT-Austin Wind Ensemble, conducted by the inestimable Jerry Junkin at 4:00 p.m. in the Bates Recital Hall. Originally scored for wind ensemble, conductor-controlled electronics and interactive video, this ...

The Bennington Chamber Music Festival of the East welcomes chamber musicians who are amateurs in the best sense of the word, and provides the opportunity to perform both traditional and contemporary music. They also welcome featured composers, who each spend a week in residence. Each creates a commissioned piece to premiere during the residency, and…

Amplified String Quartet and electronic playback (14:55)

String Orchestra & electronics

The San Jose Chamber Orchestra, with their adventuresome conductor Barbara Day Turner, has commissioned Respecting the First (Amendment) for string orchestra and electronics made from readings of and about the first amendment. The premiere is coming right up on Sunday, 3/29 at St. Francis Episcopal in San Jose, CA. At a time when the rights guaranteed…

“Pieces like Michael Horvit’s Even When God is Silent and Judith Shatin’s Adonai Ro’i were beautifully shaped and provided a calm relief from the cheery folk styles.” – Joseph Dalton, Timesunion.com “Adonai Roi (Psalm 23) for a cappella SATB chorus was composed by Judith Shatin. It was written during the week after November 4, 1995 which ...

Premier Of COAL – Anna Larson: February 1995 ILWC Journal  It was Clara Boone’s idea to get up a carload of musicians and friends and take a Sunday drive out to Shepherdstown, West Virginia, to see the premiere of Judith Shatin”s new composition, COAL. The fall weather was exquisite, and as we travelled westward into the mountains, I ...

“Luminous seems the best word to describe this piece. I Am Rose shimmers and lingers, using harmonic clusters and repeating rhythmic figures to create what the composer refers to as ” a kind of mantra.”

“The Jabberwocky, by Judith Shatin, English text, ECS, 6977, TTBB a cappella. This fanciful, creative work is brilliantly conceived and constructed to the famous poem by Lewis Carroll (1832-1898). The piece opens with appropriate nonsense syllables on fast rhythms that must be sung with extreme accuracy. Humor is extremely important as you work to create ...

Violin or Viola (7:00)

Computer music video/film (15:00)

One day, I was sitting in my office, upstairs in Old Cabell Hall, looking at the flow of life on the Lawn. I had often been delighted by the feeling of life on the Lawn, and by the shifting weather patterns above it. But this time, I suddenly saw the scene as part of a…

Trombone (variable duration)

Chamber Orchestra (24:00)

“Judith Shatin…shows a rich and disciplined imagination in her … Ruah (‘Air, Wind or Breath’) for flute and orchestra. In Hebrew, as in many other languages, the word for ‘breath’ is also the word for ‘spirit’ (which is the Latin word for ‘breath’), and Ruah is, in fact, a multifaceted essy on the human spirit, its windlike freedom of ...

“…is beautifully performed and recorded on the Composer’s Recordings label by flutist Renee Siebert….it is a multifaceted essay on the human spirit, its wind like freedom of movement and volatile changes of mood, summarized in the titles of the three movements: Soaring, Serence, and Impassioned. ” – Washington Post

I composed Ruah in 1986; it was premiered on 3/27/87, and I am writing about it in 2020! And yet, I remember it vividly! It was the summer of 1986 when I had a residency at the Virginia Center for Creative Arts about an hour down route 29 from my home in Charlottesville. I was…

Flute and Piano (23:00)

Duration 23:00

Piano Quartet (8:25)

Piano (4:35)

Amplified clarinet & electronics (13:45)

Flute, clarinet, violin, cello (14:45)

“…Judith Shatin takes an evident delight in the textural possibilities of sound, and her Secret Ground played freely with techniques for flute, clarinet, cello and violin. But Shatin never used effects for their own sake. This was highly inventive music on every level: hugely enjoyable and deeply involving, with a constant sense of surprise.” – Washington ...

Female vocal quartet + harp (15:00)

SSA Choir (3:00)

Shatin Composer-in-Residence 2012 Women Composers Festival of Hartford 3/7-10/12

Judith Shatin is a composer, William R. Kenan Jr. professor of music at U.Va. and director of the Virginia Center for Computer Music. She is known for her dramatic music, ranging from choral and orchestral to electronic and multimedia.

Shatin Music Month Schedule

Virginia Women in History Poster 2012

Shatin to be featured Composer at Roosevelt University Electro-acoustic Festival 4/12/2013

Shatin to serve as Master Artist, Atlantic Center for the Arts, May 13-June 2, 2013

Shatin_NMC_Ockelford-Review New Music Connoisseur, Vol. 24 #1, Shatin's review of Ockelford: Comparing Notes, How We Make Sense of Music

Now that the political struggles have settled somewhat at The University of Virginia, it’s time to get down to what’s really important at Mr. Jefferson’s academical village: The renovation of his beloved Rotunda.

Nun, Gimel, Hei, Shin – Shatin’s popular Hanukah round, available from Colla Voce Music

Percussionist & Configurable Automated Drumming Machine (CADI)(9:00)

Composing Sic Transit, scored for percussionist and CADI (Configurable Drumming Machine), was quite the adventure!
 CADI was created by composer-technologists Scott Barton, Steve Kemper and Troy Rogers, then students in the Composition and Computing Technologies PhD program at UVA. They founded the company EMMI, and have created several fascinating music performance robots. Steve set up…

Flute (8:30)

Mezzo, Baritone, Orchestra & Electronics (14:00)

“Judith Shatin is a nationally-and internationally-known composer, recipient of many commissions and awards, and a professor of music at UVA. She has composed electronic music as well as music for conventional instruments and voices. Singing the Blue Ridge combines all these media with superb success.  It can be described as a cantata in four movements ...

Soprano and viola or clarinet (2:00)

Skool Supplies , a group of students from Sabot Point School in Richmond, plays Everyday Music inspired by their experience with me, and sent this delightful video as a thank-you! We worked together on my Tape Music Infinity piece, for any number of participants and stereo electronics made from recordings of myself tearing, squashing, ...

Sound and Music Computing 2012 conference in Copenhagen features Judith Shatin as featured composer

SATB Chorus + piano (16:30)

Examples from Judith Shatin’s Songwriting Class at UVA, Fall 2013 Ex 1: Christina Choi, Lie to Me, ©2013, All Rights Reserved Ex 2: Elizabeth Janus, Pay No Mind , ©2013, All Rights Reserved Ex 3: Alex Bryant, There’s No Sin in Cousin, ©2013, All Rights Reserved

Teaching songwriting seems an oxymoron to some; don’t songs just flow? We know it’s true, as many songwriters tell us so. Why I’ve had that experience myself! And yet, having studied music since age 5, and barely remembering a time before I would run to our clunky old upright as soon as I woke up, ...

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Flute, Clarinet, Bassoon, Violin, Viola, Cello (6:00)

“From a very simple initial concept, Judith Shatin carves a brief but very effective little piece, Spin. Scored for a sextet comprising flute, clarinet, bassoon, violin, viola, and cello, Shatin explores multiple types of spin as applied to music, from chords that unfold and collapse back onto themselves through to dance rhythms that spin between ...

“Judith Shatin’s Spin is a slightly jazzy piece that is light on its feet…”  – All Music

Amplified flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano, interactive electronics (11:00)

“ The ensemble closed the program with Judith Shatin’s Spring Tides (2009), a rich evocation of the power of nature, with technical effects (creating wind sounds by blowing almost tonelessly into a flute and clarinet) giving way to lush textures that blended instruments with their distant-sounding electronic echoes.” – The New York Times

Amplified tenor saxophone and electronics (7:00)

String Orchestra (15:00)

“ is a marvelously inventive piece, informed with a fine sense of musical logic and a precise knowledge of the special qualities of string instruments and what makes them sound good in ensemble.  The music showed a composer fully in control of her material at all points and attuned to what makes an ...

Flute and Percussion (4:00)

“Study in Black is a well written composition for flute and percussion and would require two mature and musical players to perform it. It would be appropriate for either a college flute recital or a percussion recital. The publisher is to be commended on the printing of the work.”  – John Beck , Percussive Notes

Cello (8:45)

Soprano and Piano (1:30)

Original 5.1 Surround Version (7:14) Also available here in quad and stereo.

5.1 Surround Sound Electronics (7:14)

Here’s my take on Tape Music! I took packing tape, masking tape, binding tape, scotch tape, you-name-it-tape, and brought it to The Sound Studio in Charlottesville, where mic expert and composer Scott Barton assisted with the session, as did The Sound’s own Mark Graham. We used a bunch of mics, including Telefunken, Beyer and KSM, ...

Any number of performers, several objects & electronics (5:05)

There is something wonderful about the combination of low-tech & hi-tech, about participation that is open to all coupled with music made from the everyday world around us. Every time I conduct Tape Music∞, as I did last weekend during my portrait concert at the Bakehouse Arts Complex in Miami, I see a combination of ...

Soprano sax (or Bb clarinet), Bb Trumpet, Trombone, Violin, Viola, Cello, Percussion & electronics (19:00)

Michigan Technological University in collaboration with the Great Lakes Research Center commissioned Terra Infirma, scored for septet (sop sax, trpt, trb, vn, vla, vc, perc) and electronics. The Great Lakes are a crucial source of water as well as critical habitat for a vast array of fauna, but both the lakes themselves and the creatures that depend on them…

Shofar, 3 horns, 2 trumpets, 2 trombines, timpani (9:00)

“…performer Ronald Schneider played the visually more spectacular impala hord, which only lent to the grandeur of Judith Shatin’s Teurah,  a premiere commissioned by the ;festival and the Jewish Music Commission of Los Angeles. Similar to her fascinating chamber work, Elijah’s Chariot, …Shatin wonderfully used the other instruments in Teruah  to extend the essence of ...

When Aron Zelkowitz, founder of the Pittsburgh Jewish Music Festival, approached me about a commission for a program of music celebrating the calendar Jewish year, and in particular the High Holidays, I was eager to compose a piece for this season of renewal, but not quite sure how to proceed. The instrumentation was for shofar,…

ShatinJefferson4

2-part treble chorus and piano Also available for unison chorus or soloist & piano

2-part Treble Choir and Piano

I composed The Best Angel in Heaven in the cruel month of April, 2020, in memory of Sandra Santos-Vizcaino, the wonderful third-grade teacher at PS 9 in Brooklyn, NY who passed away from Covid-19. You can hear the beautiful performance by soprano Victoria Erickson and pianist Arlene Shrut here. 

SATB (3:30)

SATB Divisi (5:00)

TTBB choir (5:45)

Typically, when commissioned to compose choral pieces, I spend at least half of my time researching possible texts. I love the process, but at the same time often find it frustrating! There are often copyright issues to contend with that are difficult to resolve. And even when not, there is such a huge trove of…

String Quartet (12:00)

SSA divisi and piano (5:50)

Piano concerto (21:00)

...Based on the legend of St. Cecilia, the piece uses the piano and orchestra against each other to depict the conflict between Cecilia and the society that condemned her, as well as together to express her calmer, meditative side. The coloristic effects, language and ideas are fresh and bold. has full grasp of her orchestral…

Treble Chorus (SSA) & Electronics (2:40)

Mezzo or soprano & stereo electronics (17:30)

Soprano or mezzo, flute, viola and harp (17:30)

Oboe & 2 Percussion (9:30)

Time to Burn reviewed in Croatian e-zine

Time to Burn CD I am thrilled that my new CD, Time to Burn, has been released, and you can get it at Innova Recordings. The wonderful Cassatt Quartet bookends the CD with performances of Glyph and Eljiah’s Chariot. For Glyph, they were joined by outstanding musicians James Dunham (solo viola) and pianist Margaret Kampmeier. Elijah’s Chariot, ...

Ha-aretz review of Time to Burn CD

I first became acquainted with pianist Gayle Martin Henry at the Aspen Music Festival in the early 1970’s, and our friendship developed while we were both at Juilliard in the mid-70’s, and she has been by piano muse for decades!. An astonishing talent, she won the Juilliard concerto competition, and was the only American to…

Piano (11:00)

This album was the culmination of a long-term project. Gayle, my pianist muse since our days at the Aspen Music Festival and Juilliard, had discussed her desire to record a CD with some of her favorite Romantic-era piano transcriptions, as well as two of my pieces. To Keep the Dark Away was commissioned for her, ...

A Song Without Words

SSA chorus and piano (7:20)

Violin and Piano (15:20)

2/5/12 – 3:30 p.m. UVA Chamber Music Festival Old Cabell Auditorium, UVA Charlottesville, VA Violinist David Sariti and Pianist John Mayhood perform Tower of the Eight Winds

“…Of Thursday’s two world premieres and Friday’s two D.C. ones, Judith Shatin’s Tower of the Eight Winds, in four movements for violin and piano, stood out for it’s acuity and engaging vivacity as music one would like to hear again…” – The Washington Post

2 Pianos & 2 Percussion (9:45)

Playing with Resonance Ensemble Berlin Piano Percussion has commissioned Trace Elements, for two piano and two percussion. I had a wonderful time in June, 2014, rehearsing with them in in Berlin, with the kind support of the American Embassy. And, I returned for the premiere at the Konzerthaus in Berlin on December 9. Having studied percussion ...

Interactive electronics & wireless camera (variable duration)

The program features Judith Shatin’s Birkat Hakohanim (a setting of the original Hebrew of the Priestly Blessing, which begins ‘The Lord bless you and keep you…’), commissioned and premiered by the University Singers of the University of Virginia on 11/9/12. The wide-ranging concert also includes a movement from Rachmaninoff’s Vespers, Whitacre’s The Seal Lullaby, Frank ...

The commission from  YIVO for a song that used a traditional Yiddish folksong as a jumping-off point inspired me to compose Unter Sorele’s Wigele. This cradle-song was one of four options offered as starting points. I found the unsettled core motif of this one to be beautifully strange, as are the imaginative, elliptical lyrics. I…

Mezzo or Soprano & Piano (4:00)

First up, on Monday, March 24, at 8:00 p.m. in Old Cabell Auditorium, pianist Seung-Hye Kim will perform a program of new piano music, featuring pieces composed at UVA. I’m delighted that she will perform the Charlottesville premiere of To Keep the Dark Away, inspired by the poetry of Emily Dickinson. We’ve already had a ...

University Singers, with Conductor Michael Slon: Winter Tour, 2013 The program features Judith Shatin’s Birkat Hakohanim (a setting of the original Hebrew of the Priestly Blessing, which begins ‘The Lord bless you and keep you…’) Read More –>

Bass (or bass-baritone) singer, clarinet, cello, piano (15:45) Also, for baritone + ensemble, or with singer & piano

The BIT (Being in Time) team convened in Old Cabell Auditorium at UVA to test the conductor gestural controls of the electronic sound using the Kinect Controller. It worked like a charm. Next up is testing the interactive video control using amplitude, activity level and frequency bands. And, of course working on our video ...

Piano Trio (14:55)

 View from Mt. Nebo, scored for piano trio,was commissioned by Garth Newel Chamber Players, an ensemble with its home base in Warm Springs, Virginia, on a sprawling estate of rolling hills. The concert hall is an intimate space in a reconstructed horse barn, lined with wood, with excellent acoustics. At the time I composed this…

“…View from Mt. Nebo, whose fervor recalls Shostakovich with a carefully wrought tension that raised more than bow hairs.” – The Washington Post

Blue Griffin released The Tiger and the Clover, a CD of new works by diverse composers for solo violin and violin and electronics featuring violinist Wendy Case. This includes Rising on the Wings of Dawn. for solo violin. It was a joy collaborating with Wendy during the compositional process and experiment with timbral shading as I found ways to…

I have been thinking recently about my multiple residencies (8 to be exact!) at the Virginia Center for Creative Arts (VCCA). They have always been amazing oases of creativity and inspiration. During my very first visit, I had one month and my goal was to compose a piece for solo viola, string quartet and piano. ...

Electronic playback (1:00)

SATB (2:00)

SATB chorus

SATB choir, brass quintet, and timpani (15:00)

Flute/piccolo, clarinet, violin, cello, piano (8:20)

Revisiting Werther, which I composed for Da Capo Chamber Players in 1983, has caused me to think not only about the context in which I composed it, but also how my attitude towards Goethe’s novel has changed during the intervening years. When I composed the piece, I had just reread Goethe’s touching novel. And, then, ...

Flute and cello (3:30)

SATB divisi and piano (4:45)

Piano (9:00)

Wind Quintet (12:00)

New commission from Zephyrus, the outstanding Charlottesville-based vocal ensemble

2-4 amplified zipper players; 1 – 4 MIDI controllers (8+ min.)

Zipper Music, performed on  a UVA New Music Concert, included in the Covid-online version of  NIME 2020.   The conference was scheduled for the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, but circumstances led to its on-line migration.