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Judith Lang Zaimont was born on November 8, 1945 in Memphis Tennessee. Her successful career includes roles as pianist, performer, educator, and composer.1

Background information

Judith Lang Zaimont began her relationship with music at a very early age. Both Judith and her sister, Doris Kosloff, began piano lessons with their mother, Bertha Lang, who was an accomplished pianist and singer. Bertha was very active in the music profession and served as a president of the New York State Music Teachers Association. Judith then began lessons at Julliard at age 12 where she studied piano and theory from 1958-1964.2 These lessons included piano with Rosina Lhevinne and theory and duo-piano with Ann Hull. Judith and Doris had a successful performance career as duo-pianists that included appearances on Lawrence Welk’s and Mitch Miller’s television programs and a Carnegie Hall debut in 1963.5

Judith’s musical ability was observed at an early age. Family members recall her singing in her sleep when she was a child. She also had an ability to play selections by ear while very young, as well as an incredible ability to sight read.6 She was drawn to the art of composing while practicing Chopin. She was not fond of practicing since she did not like to play the same notes over and over. Zaimont states that she likes to, “mess around with the notes.”7 She began her compositional attempts at age eleven and won first place from the National Federation of Music Clubs for a piece written when she was only twelve.8

Education and teaching experiences

As Judith continued her education, she received a diploma from the Long Island Institute of Music in 1966, a bachelor’s degree from Queens College in 1968, and a master’s degree in 1978 from Columbia University.9 She studied composition with Hugo Weisgall and Jack Beeson at Queens College and later studied with Otto Luening while at Columbia.10 She also traveled to France through a fellowship in order to study orchestration with Andre Jolivet.11 She has taught at the Peabody Conservatory of Music, Adelphi University, and University of Minnesota.12

Musical style

Zaimont’s music reflects earlier compositional styles. Much of her music incorporates elements from Romanticism and Impressionism, as well as including 20th century techniques. Her music includes conventional harmony and an emphasis on recognizable structure.13 She prides herself on the ability to have recognizable form and yet still be creative. One of Zaimont’s most recognizable compositional characteristics is her use of complex rhythms and sudden meter changes. She writes that rhythm is the most important element to hold a piece together. She obscures the expected arrival of the downbeat, as well as incorporates an increased pulse of the music. She also includes cross rhythms.14

Zaimont writes that melodies are now more instrumentally inspired as opposed to vocally inspired as in the past. This new inspiration includes aspects of asymmetrical lines, octave displacement, and an emphasis on a more linear approach.15 She includes changes of character, dance rhythms, and programmatic titles in several of her works, as her pieces often draw on elements of nature and is an inspiration for her writing.16 Zaimont describes her style as, “highly dramatic with non-traditional but tonal underpinnings.” As Zaimont describes, “My style is essentially chromatic and non-contrapuntal.”17 She also places importance on texture and has a strong ability to write idiomatically for all instruments, which is a result of her strong sense of inner hearing. She was forced to rely on this when an operation for otosclerosis in 1984 left her with hearing loss in her left ear. “When I woke up the next morning, I couldn’t hear birds. And I haven’t heard them through natural hearing ever since.”18 This experience also caused her look more at the overall form of her pieces.

Musical influences

Zaimont was influenced by several well-known composers such as Berlioz, Chopin, Scriabin, Prokofiev, Debussy, Ravel, Messiaen, Stravinsky, and Copland. Her main attraction to these composers is their use of texture, fast harmonic rhythm, and figuration.19 She also respects these composers because they each use rhythm and harmony, as well as create melody, in a unique way.20 She states, “I prefer textures where there’s a lot of ‘stuff.’ And since I do write melodies, the textures need to be lucid, with surfaces worked sufficiently to characterize the materials. I’ve been called a Romantic Modernist, and that’s pretty accurate.”21 Her early influence of Gershwin and Jazz can be heard in her earlier works. She also has a love of French music, as well as music with text. Although one should have composers of influence, Zaimont believes it is very important for a composer to find his or her own, unique voice.22

Musical impact

Judith Lang Zaimont has also done much to draw attention to the challenges of female composers. She does not like being referred to as a woman composer. "I never heard the term 'adjective-composer' until 1972, when I was on Bob Sherman's radio show in New York, and he asked me what it was like to be a 'woman composer.' There was dead air on the tape right at that spot, because I'd never thought of myself as any kind of adjective composer. I have special observations about being labeled a woman composer, but I keep them to myself."23 She has also addressed the absence of women composers in the repertoire of teaching materials. She believes that students are not exposed to female composers, especially living ones, throughout their course of study. She has attempted to urge teachers to include more female composers and new music in their students’ college repertoire.24 Judith has made an effort to include herself in this area and has written for several ability levels. She has also served as the head editor of the series The Musical Woman: An International Perspective. These books were published because women composers of the past were being overlooked. Thus, another major accomplishment is her amount of publication that includes the previous series and several other articles. As a composer, Zaimont understands the importance of the listener since it is at times difficult to accumulate an audience for 20th century music.25 She is an advocate for concert talks about new music. She states that the goal of her concert talks is to help guide the listener through her composition.26 She has recognized that composers no longer abide by the rules of previous generations to determine who is successful or talented. There is no longer a unified idea that represents a great works. Also, achieving success in today’s market does not necessarily mean that the composer is talented; it could simply mean that this individual is savvy to the marketing system which can be used for self-promotion. The listener is also overwhelmed by direct access to countless types of music, and the constant use of music in public areas deters listeners from listening and realizing the importance of what they are hearing.27 Zaimont reminds us that today’s contemporary composer encounters several issues which were of no concern as little as twenty years ago.

Awards

-National Federation of Music Clubs, 10 prizes total (1962-1970) -Debussy Fellowship of the Alliance Françoise (1971-1972) -MacDowell Fellowship (1971 and 1976) -Guggenheim Fellowship (1983) -International Alliance for Women in Music Recording Award for Neon Rhythm (1995) -Honored Composer at the Van Cliburn International Competition (2001) -Aaron Copland Award (2003)28 -Gottschalk Centenary Composition Gold Medal for Man’s Image and His Cry (1969) -National Endowment for the Arts (1982) -McCollin International Composition Competition First Prize for Symphony no.1 (1995) -BMI Young Composer Award for Four Songs for Mezzo-Soprano and Piano (1996) -Artist Fellowship in Music Composition-Bush Foundation (2005)29 A complete list of awards can be found at [1].

Works

Zaimont did not start writing for larger instrumental genres until much later in life. She attributes this to her admiration for the masters that came before her. She now has over one hundred pieces total in nearly every genre and instrumental category. A complete works list can be found at [2].

Other sources

• Lang Zaimont, Judith. “Composer Profile: Judith Lang Zaimont.” Piano Today 24, no. 3 (Summer2004): 10-11. [3].

• Lang Zaimont, Judith. “On Being a Composer: Ruminations on an Undescribable Art.” Journal of the American Composers Forum 26, no. 7 (July 1999): 1, 6-7, 11.[4].

• Kilstofte, Anne. “An Interview with Judith Lang Zaimont: The Dual Process of the Cliburn Competition.” Journal of the International Alliance for Women in Music 7, no. 3 (Fall 2001): 1-7. [5].

• Simmons, Walter. “Judith Lang Zaimont.” Fanfare-The Magazine for Serious Record Collectors 36, no. 1 (Sept. 2012): 421-424. [6].

External links

Composer’s personal website [7]

Examples of works:

• Beasts http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vA5DIc1SNg]

• Serenade [8]

• Borealis [9]

• Joy of Dance [10]

• "Temperate" from Zones [11]