Judith Shatin

Atar Trio Performs To the Bird From a Distant Land
2023-10-17 20:00 (Asia/Jerusalem) | Eshkol Pais, 52 Dafna St, Kiryat Bialik, Israel
To the Bird from a Distant Land was commissioned by the Atar Piano Trio for their program celebrating the 150th anniversary of the birth of the great pet Chaim Nachman Bialik. I composed the piece in response to his poem To the Bird (El HaTzipor), written when Bialik was just 19 years old and had recently moved to Odessa. There is a strong undercurrent of homesickness for the Biblical Aretz Israel of his imagination. The poem is episodic – variously referring to Bialy’s imaging of the distant land in both its beauty and potential difficulties, yet contrasting it again and again with his current situation. His ruminations move back and forth, taking flight like the bird he calls to. My response became a song without words, with the flight sometimes soaring, while at others caught in the darker moods of Bialik’s imaginings before taking wing again.

Weaver of Worlds, a Video by Lydia Moyer and Judith Shatin
2023-10-13 20:00 (America/New_York) | Old Cabell Hall, Room B018, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, 22903, United States
Weaver of Worlds is a collaboration of video artist Lydia Moyer and composer Judith Shatin. Having previously collaborated on Civil War Memories, Shatin approached Moyer about creating a video in partnership with her piece Hosech Al P’ney HaTehom (Darkness Upon the Face of the Deep). The music was crafted using direct digital synthesis – there are no samples; rather sound was created from signal. The resulting music nonetheless has elements that feel recognizable: sonic lightning, voices, a world coming into being. The video footage was shot and processed by Moyer on analog VHS equipment. She digitally edited and upscaled it in response to Shatin’s music, inspired by the story of Navajo weavers creating the world as they weave, leaving imperfections so that spirit has an entry point.

Kevin Lawrence Performs Rising on the Wings of Dawn
2023-10-10 19:30 (America/North_Dakota/Center) | Westbrook Recital Hall, Univeristy of Nebraska, 1113 R. St., Lincoln, NE, 68588, United States
UNC School of the Arts faculty Violinist Kevin Lawrence performs Rising on the Wings of Dawn on his programat the Korff School of Music of the University of Nebraska. . Based on the image from Psalm 139, this spiritual music rises from the lowest note of the violin up through the registrar stratosphere over the course of the piece. The concert also features music by Lawrence Dillon, Joan Wildman and William Grant Still.

Paul Kim Conducts the ODU Symphony Orchestra in Ice Becomes Water
2023-10-01 15:00 - 17:00 (America/New_York) | ODU University Theatre, 4700 Terminal Blvd, Norfolk, VA, 23508, United States
Conductor Paul Kim, leads Ice Becomes Water, scored for string orchestra and electronics fashioned from field recordings shared by glaciologist Oskar Glowacki, who studies the acoustic signatures of glaciers. Commissioned by the San Jose Chamber Orchestra, this piece reflects Shatin’s deep concern about the intensifying melting of glaciers and what this means for water supplies to millions. It is both a lament and a reflection on the power and threat of the melting process.

Saxophonist Jan Berry Baker and Percussionist Stuart Gerber Perform Of Wells & Springs
2023-09-29 19:30 (America/New_York) | Recital Hall, Fine Arts Center, FSU, 600 W. College AVe., Tallahassee, FL, United States
Of Wells and Springs takes its title (and the spelling of drouth) from environmentalist Wendell Berry’s poem, Water, from his collection, Farming: A Handbook. The poem tells of a terrible drouth, of the narrator’s mother waiting for men to bring water from distant springs, of his fear of recurring drouth and of his love of the water of ‘wells and springs.’ He closes the poem with the line ‘My sweetness is to wake in the night after days of dry heat, hearing the rain.’ My music responds to the experiences that Berry conveys so vividly—the fear of drouth and its anguish, the joy of rain and its sound, adding the potential danger it carries. Of Wells & Springs was commissioned in consortium with the lead Bent Frequency Duo of saxophonist Jan Berry Baker and percussionist Stuart Gerber as well as saxophonists Nicole M. Roman, and Drew Whiting, and percussionist/composer Kevin Norton

Mark Russell Smith Conducts Piping the Earth, with the UM Symphony Orchestra
2023-09-29 19:30 (America/North_Dakota/Center) | Ted Mann Concert Hall, 2128 S. 4th St., Minneapolis, MN, 55455, United States
Conductor Mark Russell Smith, conducts Piping the Earth with the University of Minnesota’s Symphony Orchestra at Ted Mann Hall. He will also conduct it on November 2 & 3 in performances with the Quad City Symphony. Inspired by the ancient Chinese text Chiang Tau, refers to the metaphor of the many sounds created by the wind as it moves through different spaces; yet the nature of the wind, remains constant. Premiered by the Women’s Philharmonic, led by JoAnn Falletta, the response to it was rapturous, including the following from the San Francisco Chronicle: “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 moment,…” For more, visit here.

Saxophonist Drew Whiting and Percussionist Alison Shaw Perform Of Wells and Springs
2023-09-29 17:00 (America/New_York) | UW Oshkosh Music Hall, 1001 Elmwood Ave, Oshkosh
Saxophonist Drew Whiting, a member of the consortium that commissioned Of Wells and Springs will give his premiere of the piece with his colleague Alison Shaw on percussion on his faculty recital. The wide-ranging repertoire also includes music by Laura Schwendinger, Kyong Mee Choi, Alyssa Aska and Robin Heifetz.
I have had the pleasure of collaborating with Drew on his beautiful recording of For the Fallen on his album In Lights Starkly Different, and look forward to his and Alison’s interpretation of this new duet. The inspiration comes from Wendell Berry’s poem Water, a deeply personal poem that welcomes rain in the face of drouth (in the early spelling of the word). As climate change continues to intensify, the cycles of drouth and flood intensify, and the joy of rain that nourishes all of us is ever more welcome.

Saxophonist Jan Berry Baker & Percussionist Stuart Gerber Perform Of Wells & Springs
2023-09-28 19:30 (America/New_York) | Fine Arts Center Recital Hall, University of North Florida, 1 UNF Drive, Jacksonville, FL, United States

Flutist Lindsey Goodman Performs Peneleope's Song
2023-08-27 19:30 (America/New_York) | Otterbein University, Riley Auditorium, Westerville
Noted flutist Lindsey Goodman will perform Penelope’s Song, for amplified flute and electronics from weaving sounds, on her program The Electroacoustic Flutist at Otterbein University. She champions new music, especially combining flute and electronics, and has recorded both Penelope’s Song, with this version commissioned by her, as well as For the Fallen.

vayter un vayter at the Staunton Music Festival
2023-08-17 12:00 - 13:00 (America/New_York) | First Presbyterian Church 100 E. Frederick St., Staunton VA, 100 E. Frederick ST., United States
vayter un vayter will be performed at the Staunton Music Festival on their Song Fest program that also includes Britten’s Folksong Arrangements and J.S. Bach’s Cantata No. 51 for soprano, trumpet, strings and continuo. vayter un vayter is a setting of three powerful poems by Avrom Sutzkever in the original Yiddish. The first metaphorically contrasts good and evil in the form of two riders: one white and one black. The second, is a delicate, sad poem about a father telling his daughter to treasure her toys as he remembers a city with many dolls but not one child. The third questions “What remains?” Commissioned by Stonybrook Contemporary Chamber Players, it was most recently presented at the 2023 Staunton Music Festival. For more information visit here.

Program of Shatin's Flute Music at the National Flute Association Convention
2023-08-06 15:00 - 15:45 (America/New_York) | Phoenix Convention Center,, 100 N. 3rd ST., Phoenix
A program of Shatin’s flute music, organized by noted flutist Patricia Spencer, will be featured at the National Flute Association Convention in Phoenix, AZ. Three terrific flutists will perform: Lisa Bost, Sarah Brady and Leonard Garrison. Pieces include For the Fallen, Penelope’s Song, Gabriel’s Wing, Coursing through the Still Green and Grito del Corazon. Flute was one of the two instruments Shatin studied as a child, the other being piano. Composing for flute has led to multiple pieces over the years, from the early Singing Still to her concerto Ruah to pieces with electronics. These include Kairos (flute and interactive electronics, recorded by Patricia Spencer on her album Narcissus and Kairos, as well as Penelope’s Song and For the Fallen, both recorded by flutist Lindsey Goodman.

Christine Carter Performs Penelope's Song for the International Clarinet Association
2023-07-08 09:30 - 22:00 (America/Denver) | Westin Westminster Hotel, 10600 Westminster Boulevard, Westminster, CO, United States
Penelope’s Song, one of Shatin’s most popular pieces, will be performed in the version for clarinet and electronics. Recorded and popularized by clarinetist Andrea Cheeseman on her album Somewhere, it was recently performed by clarinetist Emily Jean Rose at the Charleston International 20th Century Music Competition in a performance that included the video by Kathy Aoki and Marco Marquez.

Soprano Lucy Fitz Gibbon and Pianist Ryan McCullough Perform unter soreles vigele
2023-07-06 14:00 - 15:00 (America/New_York) | Rinzler Stage, Smithsonian Folklife Festival, National Mall, between 7th and 12th St., Washington, DC, United States
Soprano Lucy Fitz Gibbon and pianist Ryan McCullough will perform unter soreles vigele on the program presented by YIVO at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival at the Rinzler Stage on the National Mall between 7th and 12th St. Commissioned by YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, as part of their Continuing Evolution Yiddish Folksong in Classical Music project, I chose to create my own interpretation of this folksong and to score it for mezzo and piano. It was given its digital premiere during the Pandemic by mezzo Annie Rosen & pianist Daniel Schlosberg, with the performance available here. It nd receives its live premiere on the Smithosonian program, and will be livestreamed. Additional information about this whimsical song and its Yiddish setting, is available here.

The Atar Trio Performs To the Bird from a Foreign Land
2023-06-27 18:30 (Asia/Jerusalem) | Cymbalista Synagogue and Jeriwsh Heritage Center, Tel Aviv University, Ramat AViv, Israel
The Atar Piano Trio and Soprano Tali Ketsef reprise their Bialik-themed concert at Tel Aviv University. Their commissioned piano trio, To the Bird from a Distant Land, was composed in response to Hayim Nahman Bialik’s iconic poem To the Bird (El HaTzipor). The poem, composed when Bialik was just 19, counterpoints his difficult situation in northern climes (Ukraine), with his imaginings of life in the land of Zion. The poem is episodic, moving back and forth between these two places, and between darkness and light. Yet, he also questions whether life in this far-off land is as wonderful as his dreams of it. My response to the poem became a song without words, with the flight of the bird sometimes soaring, while at others caught in the darker moods of Bialik’s imaginings before taking wing again. In the end, the bird and its flight came to represent the poet’s own flights of imagination.This program also features a beautiful assortment of music by Israeli composers, includingEran El-Bar, Aaron Harlap, Tzippi Fleischer and Alex Wasserman.

Soprano Amy Nelson and Violist Patricia McCarty Perform Come Live With Me
2023-06-24 19:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York) | Keene Arts, 10881 Route 73, Keene, NY, United States
Soprano Amy Nelson and violist Patricia McCarty, members of the Trillium Chamber Players, will perform Come Live with Me on June 24 at the Keen Arts Center. F ormerly titled Wedding Song, it is a setting of verses from Christopher Marlowe’s A Passionate Shepherd To His Love, drawn from the earliest printed version in the anthology titled The Passionate Pilgrim, published in 1599; the only variant is the addition of the word ‘come’ at the start, characteristic of later versions. This version for soprano and viola was recently recorded by opera singer Aleksandra Kubas-Kruk and violist Szymon Kruk. It has been performed both in concert settings and at weddings, and is available for mezzo as well as soprano, with a variety of instrumental accompaniments.

Enzo Filippetti Performs Storm
2023-06-21 20:30 (America/New_York) | The Loreto Theatre at the Sheen Center, 18 Bleecker ST., NYC, 10012, United States
Saxophonist Enzo Filippetti will give the NY premiere of Storm, for Tenor Sax and electronics, at the 2023 NYC Electroacoustic Festival in the Loreto Theatre at the Sheen Center in NYC. Premiered by Susan Fancher, it has also been performed by Tom Soloveitzik on an Ensemble Musica Nova program in Tel Aviv. Storm was inspired by the political storms raging throughout the world: extremism of all sorts, and the anguish they provoke.

Soprano Amy Nelson and Violist Patricia McCarty Perform Come Live With Me
2023-06-21 19:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York) | Westport Library, 6 Harris Lane, Westport, United States
Soprano Amy Nelson and violist Patricia McCarty, members of the Trillium Chamber Players, will perform Come Live with Me on June 24 at the Westport Library in Westport, NY. Formerly titled Wedding Song, it is a setting of verses from Christopher Marlowe’s A Passionate Shepherd To His Love, drawn from the earliest printed version in the anthology titled The Passionate Pilgrim, published in 1599; the only variant is the addition of the word ‘come’ at the start, characteristic of later versions. This version for soprano and viola was recently recorded by opera singer Aleksandra Kubas-Kruk and violist Szymon Kruk. It has been performed both in concert settings and at weddings, and is available for mezzo as well as soprano, with a variety of instrumental accompaniments.

Saxophonist Kevin Norton Performs Penelope's Song
2023-06-11 19:30 (America/New_York) | The Loon, 4124 Hamilton Ave., Cincinnati, OH, 45223, United States
Saxophonist Kevin Norton performs the soprano sax version of Peneleope’s Song at the Loon Wine Bar in Cincinnati on the Classical Revolution Series: Classical Music for the People! This popular piece exists in six versions, 3 for wind instruments and 3 for string instruments. To learn more and view a video of the soprano sax version in Jacob Swanson’s interpretation, as well as see the video by Kathy Aoki and Marco Marquez, tune in here.

I-Jen Fang Performs Adventure on Mt. Hehuan at University of North Texas
2023-06-05 20:00 (America/New_York) | Recital Hall Universithy of North Texas, Music Building, 415 Avenue C, Denton, TX, United States
Percussion I-Jen Fang was invited to participate in the American Percussion Seminar and Faculty Recital at the University of North Texas College of Music, where she performed Adventure on Mt. Hehuan. Composed for I-Jen Fang, Adventure on Mt. Hehuan is scored for solo bass drum and optional interactive electronics. The piece is a virtuoso exploration of the timbral worlds of the drum, as well as the palette created by the specific mallets, striking locations, and interactions. For more information visit here.

Atar Trio Performs Gregor's Dream
2023-06-03 20:00 - 21:00 (Asia/Jerusalem) | Studio Annette, Shvil Hameretz 2, Tel Aviv, Israel
The Jerusalem-based Atar Trio, directed by pianist Ofer Shelley, will perform Gregor’s Dream for amplified piano trio and electronics on their Musical Stories Program — highlighting the intertwining of music with Kafka’s Metamorphosis. Gregor’s Dream was commissioned by the trio for their Dream Within a Dream program. Inspired by the moment when Gregor Samsa wakes from his anxious dream to find himself transformed into a bug, it seemed an especially apt metaphor, given the treatment of those who become ‘other,’ as immigrants and their status within the human family is suddenly forgotten. There will also be a dramatic presentation of the story, with music organized by Ofer Shelley.

Atar Trio Premieres To the Bird From a Distant Land
2023-06-02 12:00 - 14:30 (Asia/Jerusalem) | Studio Annette, Shvil Hameretz 2, Tel Aviv, Israel
The Atar Chamber Ensemble directed by pianist Ofer Shelley, will premiere To the Bird from the Distant Land at Studio Annette in Tel Aviv on June 2 at 12:00 p.m. in Tel Aviv. The inspiration for this trio came from Bialik’s iconic poem To the Bird, written when the poet was just 19. The bird from the distant land represents his ideal, the land of Zion, far from the darker reality in which he lives. The bird forms the bridge between the narrator’s home in the harsher world of Europe, to the Aretz Israel, though neither location is mentioned by name. While the narrator nonetheless wonders whether some of the difficulties of his current situation are to be found there as well, the dream of this land, and the hope for a peaceful, welcoming existence there are central in his extended poem.

The Kassia Ensemble Premieres Kassia
2023-05-13 15:00 - 17:00 (America/New_York) | Shadyside Presbyterian Church, Pittsburgh, PA, 5121 Westminster Pl., Pittsburgh, PA, United States
The Kassia Ensemble, which consists of clarinet, harp and string quintet, commissioned Kassia, their first piece for the entire ensemble, and asked that it reflect on their namesake in some way. Kassia was a 9th- century. Byzantine Abbess, poet and hymnographer, and the only woman whose hymns are included in the Eastern Orthodox liturgy. She is also likely the first woman whose music has survived until now. This was a fascinating project, reaching back across the centuries, yet very much of our own time.

Bent Frequency Duo Premieres Of Wells and Springs
2023-05-07 15:00 - 17:00 (America/New_York) | Florence Kopleff Recital Hall, Georgia State University, 15 Gilmer St. SE., Atlanta, GA, United States
Of Wells and Springs takes its title (and the spelling of drouth) from environmentalist Wendell Berry’s poem, Water, from his collection, Farming: A Handbook. The poem tells of a terrible drouth, of the narrator’s mother waiting for men to bring water from distant springs, of his fear of recurring drouth and of his love of the water of ‘wells and springs.’ He closes the poem with the line ‘My sweetness is to wake in the night after days of dry heat, hearing the rain.’ My music responds to the experiences that Berry conveys so vividly—the fear of drouth and its anguish, the joy of rain and its sound, adding the potential danger it carries.

Zephyrus Premieres The Gift to Sing for A Cappella Chorus
2023-04-30 16:00 - 17:30 (America/New_York) | Charlottesville Waldorf School Pavilion, 120 Waldorf School Rd., Charlottesville, VA, United States
The Charlottesville-based vocal ensemble Zephyrus commissioned The Gift to Sing, a setting of poetry by James Weldon Johnson and will premiere it on April 29, 2023 at 7:30 p.m. at St. Paul’s Memorial Church in Charlottesville on their program From Darkness to Light: Music by Women Composers. Primarily focused on Renaissance Music, they also perform some contemporary repertoire. This concert features music ranging from the distant past, with music by Kassis and Hildegard to the brand new The Gift to Sing.

Zephyrus Premieres The Gift to Sing for A Cappella Chorus
2023-04-29 19:30 - 21:30 (America/New_York) | St. Paul’s Memorial Church, 1701 University Ave., Charlottesville, United States
Zephryus, the excellent Charlottesville-based vocal ensemble, will premiere their commissioned piece, The Gift to Sing on their program From Darkness to Light: Music by Women Composers. The Gift to Sing is an a cappella setting for mixed choir of the touching poem by that name by James Weldon Johnson. A writer and important member of the Harlen Renaissance, he was a strong civil rights activist who served as the first executive secretary of the NAACP. More information about him can be found here. I was drawn to set this poem because it speaks so deeply to the power of music, and especially of singing, in helping overcome the darkness that we all experience during our lives

Percussionist I-Jen Fang Performs Adventure on Mt. Hehuan
2023-04-29 17:30 - 18:30 (America/New_York) | Ragsdale Highschool in Jamestown, NC, 1000 Lucy Ragsdale Dr., Jamestown, NC, United States
Percussionist I-Jen Fang is a featured performer on the evening concert of the Day of Percussion presented by the North Carolina Chapter of the Percussive Arts Society at Ragsdale HS in Jamestown, NC, where she will perform Adventure on Mt. Hehuan in the solo bass drum version.

Ann DuHamel Performs Plain Song on Prayers of a Feverish Planet
2023-04-23 15:00 - 16:30 (America/New_York) | Cantrell Banquet Hall, UVA College at Wise, 1 College Row, Wise, United States
Pianist Ann DuHamel has curated a collection of piano pieces that speak to climate change and their effects in her Prayers for a Feverish Planet project. She has included Plain Song, my setting of four poems by, and read by, poet Charles Wright, for amplified piano and electronics created from his readings. They include Plain Song, Lullaby, Shadow and Smoke and Tutta Gloria, all drawn from his elegiac collection Caribou.

Plain Song performed by Seunghye Kim at Christopher Newport University
2023-04-22 16:00 - 17:30 (America/New_York) | Studio Theatre, Christopher Newport University, One Avenue of the Arts, Newport News, VA, United States
Innovative pianist Seunghye Kim performs a concert of music inspired by poetry, such as Shatin’s Plain Song, for amplified piano and electronics fashioned from recordings of 4 poems of Charles Wright read by the composer. The program also includes Forgetting Pieces by Brian Simalchik, Maxwell Tfirn’s Boltzmann’s Destroyer, To Unformed by Kyong Mee Choi and Nostalgic Visions by Elaine Lillios. The voices of poets are included in both Shatin’s and Simalchik’s pieces, while all of the pieces are deeply connected to poetry.

Ann DuHamel Performs Plain Song on Prayers for a Feverish Planet
2023-04-17 19:00 - 20:30 (America/New_York) | Concerrt Hall, Carter Center for Worship and Music, 400 E. College St., Bridgewater, VA 22812, United States
Pianist Ann DuHamel has curated a collection of piano pieces that speak to climate change and their effects in her Prayers for a Feverish Planet project. She has included Plain Song, my setting of four poems by, and read by, poet Charles Wright, for amplified piano and electronics created from his readings. They include Plain Song, Lullay, Shadow and Smoke and Tutta Gloria, all drawn from his elegiac collection Caribou.

I-Jen Fang & Judith Perform Adventure on Mt. Hehuan
2023-04-07 20:00 (America/New_York) | Dimena Center, Cary Hall, 450 W. 37th St., NYC, 450 W. 37th St., Manhattan, NY, United States
Percussionist I-Jen Fang performs the solo bass drum, while Judith performs the interactive electronics for Adventure on Mt. Huhuan in the Mary Flagler Cary Hall of the DiMenna Center at the SEAMUS (Society for Electroacoustic Music in the US) Conference. You can preview it here. Also on this concert is music by Scott Miller, Steven Kemper and much more!
