Judith Bailey (composer)

For other people named Judith Bailey, see Judith Bailey (disambiguation).

Judith Margaret Bailey (18 July 1941 – 16 March 2025) was an English clarinettist, composer and conductor. She was born in Camborne, Cornwall, and studied at the Royal Academy of Music from 1959–63, and. Since 1971 she has been working as a composer and conductor.^[1][2] She conducted the Southampton Concert Orchestra and Petersfield Orchestra (where she succeeded Kathleen Merritt in 1972) for almost 30 years before returning to her native Cornwall around 2001 where she conducted the Cornwall Chamber Orchestra and the Penzance Orchestral Society.^[3][4]

Judith Margaret Bailey
Born	(1941-07-18) 18 July 1941 (age 83) Camborne, Cornwall
Died	16 March 2025 (aged 83)
Nationality	English
Alma mater	Royal Academy of Music
Occupation	Clarinettist Composer Conductor

She is a Cornish composer;^[5] in 2001 she was honoured as an "Associate of the Royal Academy of Music" for showing distinction amongst her peers and in 2005 as a Bard of the Gorsedh Kernow for her contributions to music in Cornwall.^[4] She was a member of the Composers' Guild of Great Britain,^[6] the Cornish Music Guild,^[6] as well as a Trustee for the Cornwall Music Service Trust.^[7] Bailey died on 16 March 2025 in Cornwall after a short illness.^[8]

Selected works

• Trencrom, symphonic poem, 1978
• Symphony, 1981
• Symphony, 1982
• Seascape, for women's chorus, woodwind trio and orchestra, 1985
• Penwith, overture, 1986
• Fiesta for orchestra, 1988
• Concerto for clarinet and strings, 1988
• Havas for orchestra, 1991
• Joplinesque for wind band
• Festive Concert Piece for wind band^[1]
• A widow bird (in Three Settings of Poems by Shelley) (Text: Percy Bysshe Shelley)
• Music (in Three Settings of Poems by Shelley) (Text: Percy Bysshe Shelley)
• Neap-Tide (Text: Algernon Charles Swinburne)
• To the moon (in Three Settings of Poems by Shelley) (Text: Percy Bysshe Shelley)^[9][10]