TWO WORKS BY U.VA. MUSIC PROFESSOR TO BE HEARD 
ON EAST AND WEST COASTS

	CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., May 2 -- The sounds of University of
Virginia composer Judith Shatin's music will be heard on both coasts
in May. ""Elijah's Chariot," her composition for string quartet and
electronics, will be premiered by the Kronos Quartet at 8 p.m. on
May 9,10 and 11 at San Francisco's Theater Artaud and her "Gazebo
Music for Flute and Cello" will receive its New York premiere by St.
Luke's Chamber Ensemble at the Guggenheim Museum's "Second Helpings"
series on May 15 at 8 p.m.
	Shatin, a noted American composer who has made unique and
varied contributions to 20th century music, joined the faculty of
the University of Virginia in 1979. She is professor and chair of
the McIntire Department of Music as well as director of the
University's Virginia Center for Computer Music. She holds degrees
from Douglass College, the Juilliard School and Princeton University.
	The powerful biblical prophet, Elijah, and the chariot of
fire that swept him up to heaven is the inspiration for Shatin's
composition, "Elijah's Chariot" (1995), commissioned by the Kronos
Quartet with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts. Many
legends focus on Elijah and his return to earth to help Jews and to
announce the coming of the Messiah. Elijah also plays a role in the
Jewish sabbath and the folk song "Elijah Ha NAVI" is frequently sung
at this time. This melody forms a melodic thread in "Elijah's
Chariot," emerging clearly at one point, obliquely at others.
"Elijah's Chariot" is dedicated to Adam Francis Harrington, the son
of Kronos Quartet violinist David Harrington. Adam died while Shatin
was working on the piece and she wanted to help remember him with
this dedication.  
	The electronic portion of "Elijah's Chariot" was realized at
the Virginia Center for Computer Music (VCCM) at the University of
Virginia. All electronic sounds were produced by digitally
manipulating recorded shofar sounds using the program HACK created
by Peter Yadlowsky, technical director of the VCCM. 
	"Gazebo Music for Flute and Cello" is a pastoral nature
piece created for a site-specific dance while the composer was in
residence at the American Dance Festival in Durham, N.C., in 1981.
The musicians played in a gazebo while the dancers wended their way
through the woods, peeked over the railing of the gazebo and ended
lying on the branches of a spreading magnolia tree. The intertwining
of the flute and cello creates its own musical choreography.  
	Internationally recognized for her innovative pioneering
work in the field of computer and live electronic music with
distinctive use of acoustic instruments, Shatin's music has been
commissioned by groups such as the Ash Lawn Opera, Barlow
Foundation, San Francisco Girls' Chorus, the National Symphony and
the Women's Philharmonic. A two-year retrospective of her music at
Shepherd College in West Virginia was recently supported by the Lila
Wallace-Readers Digest Arts Partners Program. The project culminated
in the premiere of her oratorio, "Coal," scored for chorus,
Appalachian ensemble and electronics. A documentary about her work,
"Making Coal," was made by WSWP, West Virginia Public Television.
	Shatin has held residences at Bellagio, Brahmshaus, La Cite
des Arts, MacDowell, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, and
Yaddo. Active in a variety of musical organizations, she served from
1989-93 as president of American Women Composers Inc., was for two
terms a board member of the League of Composers/ISCM in New York and
now sits on the board of the American Composers Alliance. Recorded
on Opus 1 and CRI, Shatin's music is published by Arsis Press,
American Composers Edition and C.F. Peters Corp. 
###
May 1, 1996
	For interviews Shatin can be reached at (804) 924-3052.
Television reporters should contact our TV News Office at (804)
924-7550.