Judith Cloud composer, mezzo-soprano and voice teacher
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"Judith Cloud is that rare
sort of triple threat who is a first rank song composer, a gifted and busy
mezzo soprano soloist, and a highly regarded voice teacher who is currently
Coordinator of Voice at Northern Arizona University." Dr. Gregory Berg, Journal of Singing
"Judith Cloud's songs are expressive and beautifully crafted for the voice, and they
continue to attract singers who happily program and perform them." Dr. Carol Kimball, Journal of Singing |
Biography
The performing experience of mezzo-soprano Judith Cloud is widespread, including world premiers of contemporary works by American composers to performances with orchestras throughout the United States. She was the mezzo-soprano soloist for the American premier performance of Michael Tippett's A Child of Our Time with the Winston-Salem Symphony. As a specialist in twentieth-century vocal music she has been responsible for several commissions of new vocal works. At the same time she has developed as a composer herself, and has numerous compositions to her credit, most notably a cantata, Feet of Jesus, which is featured on a CD entitled “Spirituals” on the BIS Northern Lights label. She is the recipient of two Sorel Medallions for her choral compositions, receiving first prize for Anacreontics for chorus and guitar, performed in Zankel Hall (Carnegie) in 2009.
Another highlight of her career includes singing on the esteemed radio program “Saint Paul Sunday Morning.” She has performed in symphonic works such as Ravel's Shéhérezade, Prokofieff’s Alexander Nevsky, Verdi’s Requiem, Bernstein’s Jeremiah Symphony, Mahler symphonies N. 2 and N. 4, Beethoven’s Symphony N. 9, Bach’s St. John Passion, St. Matthew Passion, Handel's Israel in Egypt, Manuel de Falla's El Amor Brujo and Mendelssohn’s Elijah.
Recent performances include the alto solos in Bach's B Minor Mass with the Flagstaff Symphony (2011), three Liszt songs accompanied by guest pianist Jeffrey Swann on the NAU Horizons Series (2011) and the narrator for Peter and the Wolf (2012) with the NAU University Orchestra, conducted by Nicholas Ross.
Reviews
About Letting Escape a Song: "The quality of these songs rises far above the level of the dilettante. Singers
looking for new repertoire might especially want to investigate these
well-crafted songs by a composer who deserves to be better known."
-- David DeBoor Canfield, Fanfare Magazine
" Judith Cloud's Feet of Jesus is, from warm saxophone introduction to dramatic close, an elegant addition to American spiritual music. Cloud sets the Langston Hughes poem perfectly. Her spirited "Shout" and "Fire" complement a loving "Gather up in the arms of your pity the sick, the depraved, the desperate, the tired...." reaching the innermost recesses of the spirit and pulling from it something redeeming of humankind." -- Amazon customer reviewer
"Dr. Cloud is a fantastic, knowledgeable, and fair professor. NAU has wonderful talent, but many students expect their A's and praises to be handed to them. What you get from Dr. Cloud depends on what you put in (the way it should be). I would recommend her as a voice teacher to anyone interested in studying at NAU.." -- Anonymous voice student, Flagstaff, AZ
Flagstaff, ARIZONA |
