Judy Hyman

Emmy winning composer, violinist, fiddler


Below are descriptions of projects and my/our roles …

CLICK HERE TO listen to selections.


Lost Nation (Feature film)
Music supervisor (along with Jeff Claus)
Directed by Jay Craven.
In post-production
Set in New England during the Revolutionary War, the film tells the intersecting stories of black Vermont settler Lucy Terry Prince and Vermont founding father Ethan Allen. Historical fiction based on real people and events, with: Eva Ndachi (Beautifully Broken), Rob Campbell (The Crucible, Winter’s Tale, Hedwig and the Angry Inch), and Kevin Ryan (The South Westerlies, Guilt, The Guru and the Gypsy).


George Henry White: Searching for Freedom (Documentary)
Partial score
Produced and directed by Mike C. O'Connell for PBS North Carolina.
Aired June 2022 on PBS North Carolina. Nominated for Emmy Award.


Kiyoshi Kuromiya: The Wonderful Fabulous Life of a Civil Rights Zelig
Full score co-composed with Jeff Claus
Produced by Keith Brand
Initial broadcast on WPPM in Philadelphia on World AIDS Day, 2021.
A 60-minute radio documentary/podcast about an extraordinary civil and human rights activist whose work addressed the U.S. war in Vietnam, the AIDS crisis, LGBTQ rights, and more.


On the Divide
Full score, co-composed with Jeff Claus.
Fishbowl Films
Premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival on June 13, 2021.
ON THE DIVIDE follows a community in McAllen, TX which is adjacent to the U.S./Mexico border, and situated between multiple patrol checkpoints. McAllen is a majority Latinx and undocumented population and is home to the only abortion clinic serving the entire Rio Grande Valley as well as the largest immigrant detention center in the United States and the location of the construction of Trump’s Border wall. ON THE DIVIDE follows the stories of people in McAllen whose lives are directly impacted by these issues that continue to divide their own community and the larger public all around the country. From the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, who could overturn Roe v Wade, to troops being sent to the border to stop the migrant caravan-- activists and citizens on both sides of these debates are emboldened by the political climate, creating further division within the community. Our characters, however, are caught in the crossfire as they contend with their community being torn apart by conservative politics and policies.


Jack London’s Martin Eden (Feature film)
Full score.
Kingdom County Productions. Directed by Jay Craven.
Premiered at the Nantucket Film Festival on June 18, 2021.
Based on the novel by Jack London.


Tracy’s Vision
Full score.
Short film by the electronranch (Insights International, Inc.): Philip Wilde and Ann Michel
Premiered at the Lake Travis Film Festival on June 9, 2021. Available for viewing on Vimeo.
“Tracy’s Vision” profiles the personal courage of Tracy Minish, a branch chief at NASA’s Mission Control Center at the Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas.


New Bern: Spirit of Freedom (Documentary)
Full score.
UNC-TV, Public Media, North Carolina. Produced and directed by Mike C. O'Connell. 2020.
Winner at Long Leaf Film Festival (North Carolina Museum of History) in the History+ Best Documentary category.
Aired on UNC-TV on June 25, 2020; available for viewing on the PBS website.
A documentary about the racial/civil rights history of this important North Carolina city.


Wetware (Feature film)
Full score co-composed with Jeff Claus.
Kingdom County Films.  Directed by Jay Craven.  2019.
Based on the novel by Craig Nova, Wetware is set in a near future where there are jobs that no one wants and people at the end of their rope who will do anything for a sense of security and well-being. Enter Galapagos Wetware, a cutting edge genetic engineering firm where people down-on-their-luck apply for alterations that help them handle the small stuff like mopping up crime scenes and toxic clean-ups – and more demanding tasks as boots-on-the-ground against infectious diseases, climate eruptions, and resource wars.


The Hammocks (Documentary)
Full score for UNC TV.  Produced and directed by Mike C. O'Connell. 2018.
Hammocks Beach State Park, which includes Bear Island, is a pristine, unspoiled North Carolina State Park with a history that mirrors the history of civil rights in the United States.  Brain surgeon William Sharpe, a white physician from the North, visited the area with a group of physicians on a hunting trip.  His assigned hunting guide, an African American man named John Hurst, became his lifelong friend.  Sharpe fell in love with the area and engaged Hurst to find property he could purchase for vacation and farming.  The property he bought around 1912 is now Hammocks State Park.  When Sharpe appointed Hurst caretaker of the property, outraged nearby white residents burned one of the structures to the ground.  Eventually Sharpe willed the property to the African-American organization, The North Carolina Teacher's Association.  At the time African Americans were not permitted to attend white beaches in the South.  The Hammocks became both a vacation destination for African Americans and a center providing preparation and training for civil rights actions.  After the Civil Rights Act of 1964, The Hammocks became a North Carolina State Park, which remains largely undeveloped and naturally beautiful.


Guardian (Documentary)
Enhanced existing library music and created new music as well.  With Jeff Claus.
Produced and directed by Courtney Quirin. 2018.
Has shown and placed at numerous film festivals. Now available for streaming at Amazon Prime, Vimeo, Ovid, and Docuseek.
A story about the erosion of science and environmental management in Canada and an exploration of the ethereal worlds of the Guardians of the Great Bear Rainforest and the impending loss of their deep understanding of the natural world, cultivated over decades and generations. 


Childe Hassam and the Isles of Shoals (Documentary)
Full score.
Produced by UNC-TV.  Produced and directed by Michael C. O'Connell.  2016.
Explores the North Carolina Museum of Art exhibit of American impressionist painter Childe Hassam focusing on Hassam's work on Appledore Island over the course of thirty years.


Peter and John (Feature film)
Also called “Blood Brothers”

Music supervision, editing, arranging (with Jeff Claus).
Kingdom County Films.  Directed by Jay Craven.  2015.
Guy de Maupassant’s 19th century seaside novel, Pierre et Jean, is widely credited for changing the course of narrative fiction. The book introduced intense psychological complexity into its naturalistic depiction of a family brought to the breaking point through startling revelations. The film stars 2014 Golden Globe winner Jacqueline Bisset (Day for Night, Bulllitt), Emmy winner and Tony nominee Gordon Clapp (NYPD Blue, Glengarry Glen Ross), Christian Coulson (Harry Potter: Chamber of Secrets, The Hours), Shane Patrick Kearns (Blue Collar Boys) and Diane Guerrero (Orange is the New Black).


Rising Voices (Documentary)
Partial score.
Hott Productions of Florentine Films in association with The Language Conservancy.  Aired on select PBS stations 2015.
The project presents the present-day reality that Lakota, along with hundreds of other languages worldwide, is endangered; within a generation it could disappear. The film examines not only the roots of this crisis, but also the efforts of those who now struggle to save that language -- the Native Americans and non-natives engaged in the very hard work of language revitalization.The project was funded by Vision Makers Media with major sponsorship provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, The National Endowment for the Humanities, The Administration for Native Americans, The Dakota Indian Foundation, the South Dakota Humanities Council, and the North Dakota Humanities Council.


The Hungry Heart (Documentary)
Licensed songs of The Horse Flies. 
Kingdom County Productions. Produced and directed by Bess O'Brien.  2015
A powerful documentary about the problem of prescription drug addiction and one doctor's efforts to address it.


Frederick Law Olmsted: Designing America (Documentary)
Full score.
Hott Productions of Florentine Films.  Aired on PBS in 2014.
About the father of U.S. landscape architecture, who designed NYC's Central Park, Brooklyn's Prospect Park, Boston's Emerald Necklace and many other major sites across the country. 


Northern Borders (Feature film)
Full score, co-composed with Jeff Claus.
Kingdom County Films.  Produced and directed by Jay Craven.  2012.
Based on Howard Frank Mosher’s award-winning coming-of-age story. Starring Academy Award nominee Bruce Dern (Nebraska, Coming Home, They Shoot Horses Don't They?, HBO's Big Love); Genevieve Bujold (King of Hearts, St. Joan, Anne of the Thousand Days, Obsession); 12-year old Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick (Everybody’s Fine, The Omen, Sex and the City); Bill Raymond (Michael Clayton, The Wire).


Dear President Obama, Americans against Fracking in One Voice (Documentary)
Contributed some composition, arranging, and performance (with Jeff Claus and Richie Stearns).
Oceans 8 Films.  Directed by Jon Bowermaster.  2012.
A direct appeal to the President, and to all elected officials, to carefully consider the growing evidence proving that hydraulic fracturing for oil and gas is hardly the path to energy independence that many promote. The film takes a cross-country look at fracking, highlighting its variety of contaminations, the stories of its victims, the false promise of an economic boom, with a focus on energy solutions that would allow us to proceed towards an energy future that does not rely on yet another dirty fossil fuel extraction process.


Fletcher Steele and Naumkeag: A Playground of the Imagination (Documentary)
and
Designing in the Prairie Spirit (Documentary)
Contributed music.
Produced by the Library of American Landscape History in association with Hott Productions of Florentine Films.  2012.
Two films in a series about important landscapes and their designers.



Dear Governor Cuomo (Film of live concert and rally)
Performed on several pieces, solo and in groups.
One Ocean Media Foundation in association with New Yorkers Against Fracking. 2016
Written and directed by Jon Bowermaster.  Musical direction by Natalie Merchant and John Medeski.  
A live concert & rally to protect New York State against fracking.


The War of 1812 (Documentary)
Full score.
Produced by WNED-TV, Buffalo, NY and Hott Productions of Florentine Films.  Aired 2011 on PBS.


Buck (Documentary)
Licensed songs of The Horse Flies.
Cedar Creek Productions.  2011.
Sometimes a film comes along that answers a question that you didn’t realize you had. That movie is “Buck,” an exceptional slice of Americana about the charismatic real-life horse whisperer, an earthy, soft-spoken philosopher who can tame troubled souls, be they man or beast. --Los Angeles Times


On Thin Ice in the Bering Sea: Polar Science and Yup'ik Culture (Documentary)
Contributed music.
Florentine Films/Hott Productions in association with The Clark Science Center at Smith College. NOVA Online films, released in conjunction with Extreme Ice, a NOVA-National Geographic Television special.  Aired 2009 on PBS.


The Return of the Cuyahoga (Documentary)
Contributed music.
Florentine Films/Hott Productions.  Aired 2008 on PBS.
A PBS documentary about the death and rebirth of one of America's most emblematic waterways.


Pet Owner's Guide to Cancer (Online videos)
Created all the music.
Produced by Insights International for the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine, Partners in Animal Health.  2008.


New York Times permalink:  Year in Photos - Travel.  2007.  (Online video)
Contributed music.


John James Audubon: Drawn from Nature (Documentary)
Full score co-composed with Jeff Claus.
Florentine Films/Hott Productions.  2007.
PBS documentary for the American Masters series about naturalist John James Audubon.  Winner of The Silver Chris.  Best of its Division from the Columbus International Film & Video Festival.


Through Deaf Eyes (Documentary)
Full score co-composed with Jeff Claus
Florentine Films/Hott Productions.  2007.
A PBS documentary about the history of deaf culture in the U.S.  Winner of Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award in 2008.


2007 Fingerlakes Environmental Film Festival
Live performance to film.
Film by Ann Michel and Phil Wilde.
With Jeff Claus (electric guitar), Rick Hansen (Moog synthesizer and organ), Jay Olsa (bass), and Robby Aceto (guitar) at the Park Auditorium, Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY.


Disappearances (Feature film)
Full score co-composed with Jeff Claus.
Kingdom County Productions. 2006.
Based on the Howard Frank Mosher novel and starring Kris Kristofferson, Genevieve Bujold, Luis Guzman, Gary Farmer.


Forces of Nature
Live collaborative performance with film and speaker.
Film by Ann Michel and Phil Wilde
At the 2006 Light in Winter Festival at the State Theater in Ithaca. Speaker, Charles Trautmann. With musicians Jeff Claus (electric guitar), Chad Crumm (synths), Rick Hansen (synths), Jay Olsa (bass).



Dream Anatomy (Interactive DVD)
Full score.
Madisonfilm for the National Library of Medicine.  2005.
 A history of anatomical illustration.


The Cultivated Life: Thomas Jefferson and Wine (Documentary)
Full score.
Madisonfilm.  2005.
PBS documentary about Thomas Jefferson's efforts to establish an American wine tradition.  Judy received an Emmy from the National Capital Chesapeake Bay Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in the category:  Musical Composition/Arrangement: Special Achievement.


The Year that Trembled (Feature film)
Full score co-composed with Jeff Claus.
Novel City Pictures. Directed by Jay Craven.  2002.
1970 coming-of-age story set in the shadow of Kent State, starring Martin Mull, Fred Willard, Marin Hinkle, Henry Gibson, Jonathan Brandis. Winner of several regional awards.


NCAA pre-game programming on CBS
This broadcast used excerpts from the score of Where the Rivers Flow North.  2001.


Any Given Sunday (Feature film)
Directed by Oliver Stone.  2000.
Film used excerpts from the score of Where the Rivers Flow North.


Thomas Jefferson (for the Thomas Jefferson Memorial exhibit) (Documentary)
Full score, co-composed with Jeff Claus.
National Park Service.  1998.  Nominated for WorldFest Houston Award 2001. 


A Stranger in the Kingdom (Feature film)
Full score, co-composed with The Horse Flies.
Kingdom County Productions. 1997.
Starring Martin Sheen, Ernie Hudson, Bill Raymond, Jean Louisa Kelly, Carrie Snodgrass. 


Rock the Vote special about adolescent health issues
Rock the Vote used The Horse Flies' song "I Live Where It's Gray". Aired on MTV.  1995. 


Where the Rivers Flow North (Feature film)
Full score, co-composed with The Horse Flies.
Kingdom County Productions.  Directed by Jay Craven.  1994.
Starring Rip Torn, Tantoo Cardinal, Bill Raymond, Michael J. Fox, Treat Williams. Winner of Producers Guild of America NOVA AWARD.