Judith Dvorkin

Judith Dvorkin (22 April 1928 – 24 July 1995) is an American composer and librettist.^[1] She also uses the pseudonym Judy Spencer.^[2][3] Dvorkin was born in New York and studied music at Barnard College with Otto Luening and at Columbia University with Luening and Elliott Carter. She continued her studies in seminars with Roger Sessions at the University of California at Berkeley.^[4]

Works

Dvorkin is known for chamber opera and theater works, but also composes vocal and instrumental works. Selected works include:

• Humpty Dumpty, 1988, opera based on Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
• Blue Star, 1983, opera
• The Capitoline Venus, 1969, opera in one act after an episode in the writings of Mark Twain, libretto by Judith Dvorkin (music by Ulysses Kay)
• Marpessa: A Myth, for soprano, clarinet and piano
• Cyrano, based on the play by Edmond Rostand, as translated by E.W. Dvorkin ca. 1964
• Maurice
• Perspectives for flute
• Song Cycle for choir
• Four Women for choir
• The Children for bass, flute, oboe and violin

Her work has been recorded and issued on CD, including:

• Maurice, New World Records

References

1. "Judith Dvorkin". Family Search. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
2. Dees, Pamela Youngdahl (2004). A Guide to Piano Music by Women Composers: Women born after 1900.
3. Pool, J.G. (1979). America's Women Composers: Up from the Footnotes.
4. Sadie, Julie Anne; Samuel, Rhian (1994). The Norton/Grove dictionary of women composers (Digitized online by GoogleBooks). Retrieved 10 March 2011.