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Judith Lang Zaimont (1945 -     )

Judith Zaimont, composer The music of Judith Lang Zaimont is internationally acclaimed for its immediacy, dynamism and palpable emotion.  Her 100+ works cover every genre and have been programmed  around the globe by major ensembles including the  Philadelphia Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony, Connecticut Opera, New York Virtuosi, England’s  Laudebus and  Trinity  Wind Ensemble, Harlem String Quartet, Zagreb Saxophone Quartet, American Ragtime Ensemble and many others. She is frequently commissioned and widely honored through composer prizes and awards (including a Guggenheim Fellowship, 2003 Aaron Copland Award, and 2005 Bush Foundation Fellowship). Two of her works  were named to Century Lists: Doubles for oboe and piano (1993) (Chamber Music America), and Sonata (1999) (Piano & Keyboard magazine) and her works are published and  widely available on disc. After a teen-age career as concert pianist she completed studies in composition (City University of New York,  Columbia University)  and  orchestration (in Paris with André  Jolivet),   leading to distinguished appointments over 35 years as educator and  companion contributions as writer and editor. A fall 2008 essay for American Music Teacher magazine, “Embracing New Music”, has been named 2009 Article of the Year by the Music Teachers National Association. In addition to works of Jewish inspiration, Zaimont has written choral and solo vocal settings of poetry by authors from Shakespeare to Baudelaire to Blake, displaying a keen sensitivity to textual nuance.
- Milken Archive & Sigma Alpha Iota

COMPOSITIONS              Zaimont Links     ~ ~ ~     Works by Genre    ~ ~ ~    Zaimont on Zaimont    ~ ~ ~    What's New . . .
Four Songs for Mezzo-Soprano and Piano (1965)
Man's Image and His Cry, baritone, alto, chorus and orchestra (1968)
Three Ayres, chorus (1969)
Toccata, piano (1969, withdrawn)
Scherzo, piano (1969)
Grand Tarantella, violin and piano (1970)
Coronach, soprano and piano (1970)
Music For Two, any two treble wind, wind/brass instruments (1971)
Capriccio, flute (1971)
The Ages of Love, baritone and piano (1971)
Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (1972)
The Chase, chorus and piano (1972)
Snazzy Sonata,piano 4-hands (1972)
Valse Romantique, flute (1972)
Sunny Airs and Sober, chorus (1974)
Chansons Nobles et Sentimentales, high voice and piano (1974)
Songs of Innocence, soprano, tenor flute, cello and harp (1974)
Two Piano Rags: "Reflective Rag", "Judy's Rag" (1974)
    - Reflective Rag, flute and piano (arr. 2001)
    - Reflective Rag, fl, cl, cornet, trbn, pf, drums, 2 vln, va, cello and db (arr. 2007)
Moses Supposes, 3-part canon for treble voices and percussion (1975)
Greyed Sonnets: Five Serious Songs, soprano and piano (1975)
Sacred Service for the Sabbath Evening,  baritone (or alto), chorus and orchestra or piano (1976)
    - Eternal is Thy Pow’r, O Lord  [from Sacred Service, 1976]
    - Three Choruses from The Sacred Service, baritone, chorus and piano or organ (1976; rev. 1980)
Calendar Collection, 12 preludes for the developing pianist (1976)
A Woman of Valor, mezzo-soprano and string quartet (1977)
Solitary Pipes, piano (1977)
A Calendar Set, 12 virtuosic preludes for piano (1972-1978)
Psalm 23, baritone or mezzo-soprano, flute, violin, cello and piano (1978)
Two Songs for Soprano and Harp (1978)
Nocturne: La Fin de Siècle, piano (1978)
The Tragickal Ballad of Sir Patrick Spens, chorus, choral soli and piano  (1980)
The Magic World: Ritual Music for Three, baritone, piano and percussion (1979, 1980)
De Infinitate Caeleste (Of the Celestial Infinite), string quartet (1980)
High Flight, high voice and piano (1980)
Serenade: To Music, chorus (1981)
Stone, piano keyboard and piano strings (1981)
Lamentation, double chorus, mezzo-soprano and baritone soloists, piano and percussion (1982)
Deep Down - A Spiritual, medium-low voice and piano (1982)
From the Great Land: Woman's Songs, mezzo-soprano, clarinet, (Eskimo drum) and piano (1982)
Aria: "Ashes are the bread I eat", mezzo-soprano and piano (1983)
In the Theatre of Night: Dream Songs on Poems of Karl Shapiro, high voice and piano (1983)
New-Fashioned Songs, low voice and piano (1983; revised version for medium voice and piano)
Black-Velvet Waltz, piano (1983)
Sky Curtains: Borealis Australis, flute, clarinet, bassoon, viola and cello (1984)
Nattens Monolog - Night Soliloquy, scena for soprano and piano (1984)
Tarantelle, orchestra (1985)
Goldilocks and the Three Bears, opera, soprano, alto, tenor, bass and piano (1985)
Dance/Inner Dance, flute, oboe and cello (1985)
Winter Music, brass quintet (1985)
Chroma: Northern Lights, orchestra (1986)
Parable: A Tale of Abram and Isaac, soprano, tenor, chorus and organ (1986)
Dramatic Fanfare, brass nonet (1987)
Hidden Heritage: A Dance Symphony, fl/alto fl, cl/bs cl/tnr sax, elec pf, amplified vc, perc (1987)
When Angels Speak, fantasy for woodwind quintet (1987)
Monarchs: Movement for Orchestra (1988)
Piano Trio: Russian Summer, piano, violin and cello  (1989)
Will's Words, Scena to Shakespeare texts, baritone and orchestra (1990)
Vessels: Rhapsody for Mezzo and Piano (1991)
The Spirit of the Lord, double chorus, choral soli, brass quintet and organ; or organ solo accompaniment (1992)
Prelude, flute, oboe and cello  (1992)
I Seek the Lord, organ (1992)
Même, flute, clarinet, violin and 2 cellos  (1993)
Doubles, oboe and piano (1993)
Symphony No. 1, orchestra (1994)
Friends, female chorus and piano (1994) [part of Life Cycle, 1994-2001]
Zones (Piano Trio No. 2), piano, violin and cello (1994)
Suite Impressions, piano (1994)
Miracle of Light - A Festival Piece, chorus, flute and harp  (1995)
Voices,  chorus, choral soli, 2 percussion, synthesizer and brass nonet (1996)
Meditations at the Time of the New Year, chorus, female chorus soli, glockenspiel and tubular bells (1997)
They Were Women Then, female chorus, pf, maracas (1997) [part of Life Cycle, 1994-2001]
"... 3: 4, 5 ...", oboe, clarinet, violin, viola and doublebass (1997)
Elegy for Symphonic Strings (1998)
Folk-Song Fantasy, clarinet quartet (1998)
Parallel Play for Saxophone Quartet (1998)
Tanya - Three Poems for Cello (1998)
'Hesitation' Rag, piano (1998)
Symphony for Wind Orchestra in Three Scenes (1999)
    - I. Growler
    - II. Dreamz (Six Episodes, Dissolved)
    - III. Tatoo
Impronta Digitale, piano (1999)
Sonata for Piano (1999)
Remember Me: Symphony No. 2 for Symphonic Strings (2000)
Spirals for String Trio, violin, viola and cello  (2000)
Jupiter's Moons, piano (2000)
Life Cycle (1994-2001; and continuing) [An ongoing project for women’s voices and instruments to poems by women]
    - Friends, female chorus and piano (1994)
    - Kneeling in the Big City, soprano, alto, female chorus and piano (2001)
    - The Habit of Anger, female chorus and piano (2001)
    - They Were Women Then, female chorus, pf, maracas (1997)
    - Housewife, 2 soprano soli, female chorus and and piano (2009) [text: Claudia Stanek]
City Rain,  miniature tone poem, band (2001)
Wind Quintet No. 2, "Homeland" (2001)
Bubble-Up Rag, concertpiece for flute and piano (2001)
Virgie Rainey - Two Narratives for Soprano, Mezzo-Soprano and Piano (2002)
In My Lunchbox, Suite for Developing Pianists (2003)
Wizards - Three Magic Masters, piano (2003)
From the Folk, flute, oboe, clarinet and bassoon  (2004)
Astral... a mirror life on the astral plane..., clarinet or viola (2004)
Stillness, Tone Poem for Orchestra (2005)
Verse, violin (2006)
Serenade, piano (2006)
Israeli Rhapsody, concert band  (2007)
Rememberance, chorus, tenor, mezzo-soprano, soprano soli, English horn, cello, organ and percussion (2007)
Lazy Beguine, cl, cornet, pf, drums, vln, va, vc and db  (2007)
Serenade (arr. for violin and organ, 2007)
String Quartet – "The Figure" (2007)
Hitchin’, piano  (2007)
The Spirit Moves In Me (3 pieces), chorus, choral soli, piano, percussion and string quartet (2008)
Solar Traveller, concerto for piano and wind orchestra (2009)
Housewife, 2 soprano soli, female chorus and and piano (2009) [text: Claudia Stanek] [part of "Life Cycle", 1994-present]
Keyboard Cousins, suite for young pianists, piano (in progress)
Sonata-Rhapsody, violin and piano (2010)


WORKS BY GENRE          Zaimont Links    ~ ~ ~    Zaimont on Zaimont    ~ ~ ~    What's New . . .    ~ top of page ~
Dramatic/Theater
Goldilocks and the Three Bears, opera, soprano, alto, tenor, bass and piano (1985)

Orchestra
Tarantelle, orchestra (1985)
Chroma: Northern Lights, orchestra (1986)
Monarchs: Movement for Orchestra (1988)
Symphony No. 1, orchestra (1994)
Elegy for Symphonic Strings (1998)
Remember Me: Symphony No. 2 for Symphonic Strings (2000)
Stillness, Tone Poem for Orchestra (2005)

Band
Symphony for Wind Orchestra in Three Scenes (1999)
    - I. Growler
    - II. Dreamz (Six Episodes, Dissolved)
    - III. Tatoo
City Rain,  miniature tone poem, band (2001)
Israeli Rhapsody, concert band  (2007)
Solar Traveller, concerto for piano and wind orchestra (2009)

Soloist(s) w/Orchestra
Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (1972)
Solar Traveller, concerto for piano and wind orchestra (2009)

Chorus w/Orchestra
Man's Image and His Cry, baritone, alto, chorus and orchestra (1968)
Sacred Service for the Sabbath Evening,  baritone (or alto), chorus and orchestra or piano (1976)

Choral
Three Ayres, chorus (1969)
The Chase, chorus and piano (1972)
Sunny Airs and Sober, chorus (1974)
Moses Supposes, 3-part canon for treble voices and percussion (1975)
Sacred Service for the Sabbath Evening, baritone (or alto), chorus and piano (1976)
Three Choruses from The Sacred Service, baritone, chorus and piano or organ (1976; rev. 1980)
The Tragickal Ballad of Sir Patrick Spens, chorus, choral soli and piano  (1980)
Serenade: To Music, chorus (1981)
Lamentation, double chorus, mezzo-soprano and baritone soloists, piano and percussion (1982)
Parable: A Tale of Abram and Isaac, soprano, tenor, chorus and organ (1986)
The Spirit of the Lord, double chorus, choral soli, brass quintet and organ; or organ solo accompaniment (1992)
Miracle of Light - A Festival Piece, chorus, flute and harp  (1995)
Voices,  chorus, choral soli, 2 percussion, synthesizer and brass nonet (1996)
Meditations at the Time of the New Year, chorus, female chorus soli, glockenspiel and tubular bells (1997)
Life Cycle (1994-2001; and continuing) [An ongoing project for women’s voices and instruments to poems by women]
    - Friends, female chorus and piano (1994)
    - Kneeling in the Big City, soprano, alto, female chorus and piano (2001)
    - The Habit of Anger, female chorus and piano (2001)
    - They Were Women Then, female chorus, pf, maracas (1997)
    - Housewife, 2 soprano soli, female chorus and and piano (2009) [text: Claudia Stanek]
Rememberance, chorus, tenor, mezzo-soprano, soprano soli, English horn, cello, organ and percussion (2007)
The Spirit Moves In Me (3 pieces), chorus, choral soli, piano, percussion and string quartet (2008)
    - How – The Ways of Nature
    - When – It is a beauteous evening, calm and free [text: Wordsworth]
    - To What Purpose – The Ways of God

Chamber
Music For Two, any two treble wind, wind/brass instruments (1971)
De Infinitate Caeleste (Of the Celestial Infinite), string quartet (1980)
Sky Curtains: Borealis Australis, flute, clarinet, bassoon, viola and cello (1984)
Dance/Inner Dance, flute, oboe and cello (1985)
Winter Music, brass quintet (1985)
Dramatic Fanfare, brass nonet (1987)
Hidden Heritage: A Dance Symphony, fl/alto fl, cl/bs cl/tnr sax, elec pf, amplified vc, perc (1987)
When Angels Speak, fantasy for woodwind quintet (1987)
Piano Trio: Russian Summer, piano, violin and cello  (1989)
Prelude, flute, oboe and cello  (1992)
Même, flute, clarinet, violin and 2 cellos  (1993)
Zones (Piano Trio No. 2), piano, violin and cello (1994)
"... 3: 4, 5 ...", oboe, clarinet, violin, viola and doublebass (1997)
Folk-Song Fantasy, clarinet quartet (1998)
Parallel Play for Saxophone Quartet (1998)
Spirals for String Trio, violin, viola and cello  (2000)
Wind Quintet No. 2, "Homeland" (2001)
From the Folk, flute, oboe, clarinet and bassoon  (2004)
Lazy Beguine, cl, cornet, pf, drums, vln, va, vc and db  (2007)
Reflective Rag, fl, cl, cornet, trbn, pf, drums, 2 vln, va, cello and db (2007)
Serenade (arr. for violin and organ, 2007)
String Quartet – "The Figure" (2007)

Solo Instrument
Grand Tarantella, violin and piano (1970)
Capriccio, flute (1971)
Valse Romantique, flute (1972)
Doubles, oboe and piano (1993)
Tanya - Three Poems for Cello (1998)
Bubble-Up Rag, concertpiece for flute and piano (2001)
Reflective Rag, flute and piano (arranged by the composer, 2001)
Astral... a mirror life on the astral plane..., clarinet or viola (2004)
Verse, violin (2006)
Sonata-Rhapsody, violin and piano (2010)
    - Nocturne (Romantic)
        - Thinking 1 -
    - Aria (Sad)
        - Thinking 2 -
    - Dance (Twisted)

Piano/Organ
Toccata, piano (1969) [withdrawn]
Scherzo, piano (1969)
Snazzy Sonata,piano 4-hands (1972)
Two Piano Rags: "Reflective Rag", "Judy's Rag" (1974)
Calendar Collection, 12 preludes for the developing pianist (1976)
Solitary Pipes, piano (1977)
A Calendar Set, 12 virtuosic preludes for piano (1972-1978)
Nocturne: La Fin de Siècle, piano (1978)
Stone, piano keyboard and piano strings (1981)
Black-Velvet Waltz, piano (1983)
I Seek the Lord, organ (1992)
Suite Impressions, piano (1994)
'Hesitation' Rag, piano (1998)
Impronta Digitale, piano (1999)
Sonata for Piano (1999)
Jupiter's Moons, piano (2000)
In My Lunchbox, Suite for Developing Pianists (2003)
Wizards - Three Magic Masters, piano (2003)
Serenade, piano (2006)
Hitchin’, piano  (2007)
Keyboard Cousins, suite for young pianists, piano (in progress)
    - The Harp
    - The Guitar
    - The Cymbalom
    - The Celeste
    - The Organ
    - The Harpsichord

Vocal
Four Songs for Mezzo-Soprano and Piano (1965)
Coronach, soprano and piano (1970)
The Ages of Love, baritone and piano (1971)
Chansons Nobles et Sentimentales, high voice and piano (1974)
Songs of Innocence, soprano, tenor flute, cello and harp (1974)
Greyed Sonnets: Five Serious Songs, soprano and piano (1975)
Eternal is Thy Pow’r, O Lord  [from Sacred Service, 1976]
A Woman of Valor, mezzo-soprano and string quartet (1977)
Psalm 23, baritone or mezzo-soprano, flute, violin, cello and piano (1978)
Two Songs for Soprano and Harp (1978)
The Magic World: Ritual Music for Three, baritone, piano and percussion (1979, 1980)
High Flight, high voice and piano (1980)
Deep Down - A Spiritual, medium-low voice and piano (1982)
From the Great Land: Woman's Songs, mezzo-soprano, clarinet, (Eskimo drum) and piano (1982)
Aria: "Ashes are the bread I eat", mezzo-soprano and piano (1983)
In the Theatre of Night: Dream Songs on Poems of Karl Shapiro, high voice and piano (1983)
New-Fashioned Songs, low voice and piano (1983; revised version for medium voice and piano)
Nattens Monolog - Night Soliloquy, scena for soprano and piano (1984)
Will's Words, Scena to Shakespeare texts, baritone and orchestra (1990)
Vessels: Rhapsody for Mezzo and Piano (1991)
Virgie Rainey - Two Narratives for Soprano, Mezzo-Soprano and Piano (2002)


ZAIMONT  LINKS          Works by Genre    ~ ~ ~    Zaimont on Zaimont    ~ ~ ~    What's New . . .    ~ top of page ~
The Compositional Style of Judith Lang Zaimont... (Joo Won Jun, dissertation)
Electronic Dialogues/1 - Judith Lang Zaimont (Sequenza21)
An Interview with Judith Zaimont: The Dual Process of the Cliburn Competition (Anne Kilstofte, IAWM Journal)
Living American Woman (Judith Lang Zaimont, NewMusicBox)
The Matter of Style (Judith Lang Zaimont, NewMusicBox)
Three Questions Before the First Night (Carson Cooman, Music & Vision)

Composer's website   . . .   contact Judith Zaimont:  here

Zaimont @ Wikipedia
Zaimont @ American Women Composers (Karin Pendle, books.google.com)
Zaimont @ Chaparral MusicFest Archive
Zaimont @ Classical Net
Zaimont @ ClassicsToday
Zaimont @ composition:today
Zaimont @ Instrumental Women (Minnesotat Public Radio)
Zaimont @ Jabez Press
Zaimont @ Jeffrey James Arts Consulting    and     here
Zaimont @ Milken Archive of American Jewish Music
Zaimont @ MusicWeb International
Zaimont @ MySpaceMusic
Zaimont @ Naxos
Zaimont @ NewMusicBox    also    here (via Google Advanced Search)
Zaimont @ The New York Times
Zaimont @ Pianopedia
Zaimont  @ REC Music Foundation /The Lied and Art Song Texts Page
Zaimont @ E.C. Schirmer
Zaimont @ Sequenza21/MusicMakers
Zaimont @ Subito Music
Zaimont @ Sigma Alpha Iota
Zaimont @ University of Minnesota

Publisher
Zaimont @ Composer's website/publisher listings
Zaimont @ Hildegard Publishing Co.
Zaimont @ Jabez Press
Zaimont @ Jeanné, Inc.
Zaimont @ Lauren Keiser Music Publishing
Zaimont @ Lyra Music Co.
Zaimont @ C.F. Peters Corp.
Zaimont @ E.C. Schirmer
Zaimont @ Subito Music
Zaimont @ Vivace Press, Inc.

Streaming Audio
Zaimont @ Jabez Press (an interview)
Zaimont @ last.fm
Zaimont @ The Milken Archive of American Jewish Music
Zaimont @ Minnesota Public Radio/Interview (2012)
Zaimont @ Minnesota Public Radio/The Composer's Voice
Zaimont @ MySpaceMusic
Zaimont @ Rhapsody

Recordings
Zaimont @ Composer's website
Zaimont @ Amazon.com
Zaimont @ ArkivMusic
Zaimont @ CD Universe
Zaimont @ ClassicsOnline

Video
Zaimont @ YouTube
Zaimont @ YouTube/The Joy of Dance  -  Judith Lang Zaimont: Claire de lune; Paintings by Gary Zaimont
Zaimont @ Google Video
Zaimont @ Vimeo

Zaimont on Zaimont: Interview (2012)/Minnesota Public Radio (streaming audio)

Judith Zaimont, composerComposers Speak on the Web at Pytheas
                            ~ click on composer picture to listen ~








Zaimont on Zaimont: Interview/Jabez Press (streaming audio)

Judith Zaimont, composerComposers Speak on the Web at Pytheas
                            ~ click on composer picture to listen ~








Zaimont on Zaimont: The Composer's Voice/Minnesota Public Radio (streaming audio)

Judith Zaimont, composerComposers Speak on the Web at Pytheas
                            ~ click on composer picture to listen ~








. . . and check out more    Composers Speak on the Web    at Pytheas


What's New with Judith Lang Zaimont
World Premiere of Judith Lang Zaimont's Solar Traveller Concerto for Piano and Wind Orchestra on October 7, 2009

The World Premiere of "Solar Traveller" Concerto for Piano and Wind Orchestra by Judith Lang Zaimont will be presented by the Peabody Wind Ensemble, Dr. Harlan D. Parker, Conductor, on Wednesday, October 7, at 7:30 pm in Miriam A. Friedberg Concert Hall of The Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University, 17 East Mount Vernon Place in Baltimore, Maryland.

The pianist will be Timothy Hoft, a DMA candidate studying at Peabody with Benjamin Pasternack. Also on the program are Early Light, by Carolyn Bremer; Music for Prague 1968, by Karel Husa; and Children's March, "Over the Hills and Far Away," by Percy Aldridge Grainger.

The composer has written about the new Concerto, “Inspired by the vastness, wonder, and beauty of sky and space, the “Solar Traveller” concerto is in three movements: Outward Bound, Nocturne (Lunar), and Ad astra per aspera. We encounter music as desolate and unfamiliar as a lunar landscape—largely expansive, as if in ‘stopped’ time. The name of the third movement, Latin for “To the stars through difficulties,” is reflected in cross-rhythms, chromatic clashes, and a prominent role for the percussion section. Across the three movements  both soloist and the ensemble experience the long-term compressive forces of space flight in   musical terms: The kernel of each movement is a progressively smaller musical interval, closing by movement from a third, to a second, down to pounding unisons in the final movement.”

The Ensemble commissioned the work along with faculty members at the Eastman School of Music, Indiana State University, Louisiana State University, Shepherd University, Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania, the University of Minnesota, and the University of Southern Mississippi.

------------

2009  MTNA Article of the Year
“Embracing New Music”
 by Judith Lang Zaimont

New York, NY – An essay by Arizona composer Judith Lang Zaimont, Embracing New Music, has just been named the 2009 Article of the Year  by the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA).   Ms. Zaimont’s essay was the featured article in the August/September 2008 issue of American Music Teacher magazine,  the official journal of MTNA .  The Award is to  be presented to Ms. Zaimont in Atlanta, Georgia  on April 1 2009 at the  conclusion of the MTNA national conference ( March 28-April 1). MTNA is a national organization of  independent and collegiate music teachers with a current  membership of  24,000.

Ms. Zaimont’s  essay  probes the underlying  reasons why  recent  music  forms such a  small percentage of the repertoire  students  wind up performing in concert.  Using as springboard the observation that “All music was once new music,” she explores the effects of the  splintering of the music profession into the separated specialties of  performer, scholar and composer during  the 20th century, and  how this ultimately  can condition and limit what works students  get to study and perform.  She observes that “In music whose idioms  we know well we navigate with artistic comfort.  But in other idioms we are less certain – perhaps less certain both of the music’s intrinsic quality and of its suitability to sustain the long acquaintanceship inherent in  practicing it up to performance level.”  Recognizing  that listeners have no problem with advanced sound complexes when these are employed  for dramatic or atmospheric effect in film and video,  she  then offers inspired yet practical ideas and solutions for getting past any hesitation a teacher or performer may experience at   meeting a recent piece for the first time, unadorned on the score page. She then goes on to profile three successful  current music commissioning projects around the U.S. geared to  connecting younger performers with the newest concert  music of our time.

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