Judith Bettina

Who is Judith Bettina?

Judith Bettina is an American soprano particularly noted for her performances of contemporary classical music. Bettina was born in Manhattan to a violinist mother, Lilo Kantorowicz Glick. and a violist father, Jacob Glick, who was noted for his championship of new music. She earned her bachelor's and master's degrees from New York's Manhattan School of Music and initially began performing in New York City.

She is married to pianist James Goldsworthy whom she met at Stanford University where she was on the music faculty from 1986 until 1993. The two often perform together both in concerts and recordings. Many of the works they perform together were written specifically for them.

Amongst the noted composers who have written works for Bettina's voice are Charles Wuorinen, Milton Babbitt, Richard Danielpour, and Tobias Picker. Picker, who has described Judith Bettina as "his muse of many years”, wrote his first song for her, a setting of a poem by Goethe.