Judd Woldin

Judd Woldin (May 30, 1925 – November 27, 2011) was an American composer, most notable for his musical Raisin.

Biography Edwin Judd Woldin was born in Somerville, New Jersey. At the age of eight, he began taking piano lessons. In high school, he was attracted to Jazz, and was even working professionally at the time.

He attended Rutgers University, and received his B.A. in 1958 and his M.A. in 1960. He had started a doctoral program at Columbia University, but left to write the dance music for a Broadway musical based on James Thurber's Fables for Our Time and Famous Poems Illustrated. After having toured with Don Elliott and then Lionel Hampton, Woldin attended Black Mountain College, studying painting with Josef Albers and composition with Heinrich Jalowetz. He then attended the University of New Mexico to study 12-tone music with Ernst Krenek (the composer of Johnny Spielt Auf.

Works Musicals 1973 - Raisin (lyrics by Robert Brittan, book by Robert B. Nemiroff and Charlotte Zaltzberg) 1978 - Petticoat Lane 1982 - Lorenzo (co-librettist Richard Engquist) 1987 - Little Ham (co-librettist Engquist) 1992 - Jonah 1993 - The Prince and the Pauper (music by Woldin and Marc Elliot, lyrics by Elliot)

Play 2002 - Murder in Baker Street

Film scores 1962 - Railway with a Heart of Gold 1964 - Light Fantastic 1967 - Poppycock 1968 - Nobody Ever Died of Old Age