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Welcome to JudithVander.com!
Let me briefly fill you in on my background. From my first piano lessons when I was four years old, music has always been at the center of my life. I received two degrees from the School of Music at the University of Michigan. In quick succession I earned a Bachelor Degree in Music Composition, married, and started my family of three children. While my children were in elementary school, I composed songs for the school choir. These songs were performed and it was the beginning of my interest in composing music for children. During this same period I taught myself guitar and banjo and performed folk music with the family and our friends. In 1978, I received a Masters Degree in Ethnomusicology. This was the start of a twenty- year period of Native American research and writing. My first book presented the music and lives of Wind River Shoshone women, and the second was a broad study of Great Basin music, poetry, and religion. Since the publication of my last book in 1997, I have returned to my first love, composing. My compositions since this time include a song cycle for children’s and adult choirs, setting five poems from William Blake’s, Songs of Innocence and of Experience. Seven children’s songs, which I set to poems of English-speaking children from around the world, will be performed by the Ventura Children’s Master Chorale in May 2005 . In addition to vocal music, I have also written instrumental works for students. In May 2005, the Ojai Youth Symphony will perform the first of two pieces for strings, which I have written for them. Finally, drawing on my knowledge of Native American music, I wrote a piece entitled, “Powwow Time for Organ and Flute,” which will have several performances during the coming year. It is in three movements, corresponding to musical genres of the powwow: Flag Song, Round Dance, and War Dance. I have also recently completed both string quartet and piano trio versions of the first movement of this work, the Flag Song. Finally, my website includes samples of the poetry, which I have written over the years. For me, music and poetry are sister arts; they are my two voices of expression. Let the dialogue begin! |