Judith Dorothy Sherman (born November 12, 1942) is an American audio engineer, and
record producer
A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...
. She has been nominated for 17
Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...
s and won 12 including for
Producer Of The Year, Classical
The Grammy Award for Producer of the Year, Classical is an honor presented to record producers for quality classical music productions at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. Honors ...
six times (in 1993, 2007, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2022). She has worked with contemporary composers on recordings including
Steve Reich
Stephen Michael Reich ( ; born October 3, 1936) is an American composer known for his contribution to the development of minimal music in the mid to late 1960s. Reich's work is marked by its use of repetitive figures, slow harmonic rhythm, a ...
,
Elliot Carter,
John Adams
John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Befor ...
,
John Corigliano
John Paul Corigliano Jr. (born February 16, 1938) is an American composer of contemporary classical music. His scores, now numbering over one hundred, have won him the Pulitzer Prize, five Grammy Awards, Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition, an ...
, and
Philip Glass
Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimal music, minimalism, being built up fr ...
.
Notable artists she has worked with include the
Alexander String Quartet
The Alexander String Quartet is a string quartet based in San Francisco. Formed in New York in 1981, the Alexander String Quartet has since 1989 been Ensemble in Residence of San Francisco Performances and directors of the Morrison Chamber Music ...
,
Kronos Quartet
The Kronos Quartet is an American string quartet based in San Francisco. It has been in existence with a rotating membership of musicians for almost 50 years. The quartet covers a very broad range of musical genres, including contemporary classic ...
(''
Nuevo''),
Pacifica Quartet
The Pacifica Quartet is a professional string quartet based in Bloomington, Indiana. Its members are: Simin Ganatra, first violin; Austin Hartman, second violin; Mark Holloway, viola; and Brandon Vamos, cello. Formed in 1994 by Ganatra and Vamos wi ...
,
Cincinnati Pops Orchestra
The Cincinnati Pops Orchestra is a pops orchestra based in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, founded in 1977 out of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Its members are also the members of the Cincinnati Symphony, and the Pops is managed by the same ...
,
London Symphony Orchestra
The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...
, and the
Cleveland Quartet
The Cleveland Quartet was a string quartet founded in 1969 by violinist Donald Weilerstein, at the time an instructor at the Cleveland Institute of Music, whose director Victor Babin had secured funding for an in-resident quartet (the institute's f ...
.
Early life and career
Sherman was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1942 to LaVerne Luekens Smith
and William Paul Luekens. She attended Valparaiso University where she graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in 1964. She received a Master of Fine Arts from State University of New York (Buffalo) in 1971. After graduating, Sherman worked for Edd Kalehoff (professionally known as "Edward at the Moog") in 1971-1972 in New York City. She went on to work for
WBAI
WBAI (99.5 FM) is a non-commercial, listener-supported radio station licensed to New York, New York. Its programming is a mixture of political news, talk and opinion from a left-leaning, liberal or progressive viewpoint, and eclectic music. ...
in New York, where she started as an engineer and worked her way up to producer and music director.
In 1976, she started Judith Sherman Productions, where she has worked since as a freelance recording engineer and producer.
Sherman was the summer recording engineer for the
Marlboro Music Festival
The Marlboro Music School and Festival is a retreat for advanced classical training and musicianship held for seven weeks each summer in Marlboro, Vermont, in the United States. Public performances are held each weekend while the school is in sess ...
in Vermont from 1976 to 1994.
She was audio faculty at the Banff Centre in 2006 and 2008. She has served on the board of directors for
Chamber Music America Chamber Music America (CMA) is an American non-profit organization that provides small ensemble professionals with access to a variety of professional development, networking, and funding resources. CMA's regular initiatives include grants, awards, ...
.
Personal life
Sherman was married to Grammy-winning record producer
Max Wilcox. The marriage ended in divorce. She is married to violinist Curtis Macomber.
After the death of her mother, Sherman commissioned composer George Perle to write a piece in her mother's memory. ''Triptych for Violin & Piano'' premiered January 27, 2003 in New York City.
Awards
She was awarded the Richard J. Bogomolny National Service Award (by
Chamber Music America Chamber Music America (CMA) is an American non-profit organization that provides small ensemble professionals with access to a variety of professional development, networking, and funding resources. CMA's regular initiatives include grants, awards, ...
) in 2009.
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sherman, Judith
1942 births
Living people
Record producers from Ohio
People from Cleveland
American audio engineers
American women engineers
20th-century American engineers
21st-century American engineers
Valparaiso University alumni
University at Buffalo alumni
American women record producers
Classical music producers
20th-century American women
21st-century American women
Grammy Award winners