James Judd (born 30 October 1949,

Hertford Hertford ( ) is the county town of Hertfordshire, England, and is also a civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district of the county. The parish had a population of 26,783 at the 2011 census. The town grew around a ford on the River Lea, ne ...

) is a British conductor. James Judd grew up in Hertford, learning the piano, flute and organ as a child and discovering his talent for conducting at high school. He studied at the

Trinity College of Music Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance is a music and dance conservatoire based in London, England. It was formed in 2005 as a merger of two older institutions – Trinity College of Music and Laban Dance Centre. The conservatoire has ...

in London. After graduating Judd was an assistant conductor of The

Cleveland Orchestra The Cleveland Orchestra, based in Cleveland, is one of the five American orchestras informally referred to as the " Big Five". Founded in 1918 by the pianist and impresario Adella Prentiss Hughes, the orchestra plays most of its concerts at Sev ...

under

Lorin Maazel Lorin Varencove Maazel (, March 6, 1930 – July 13, 2014) was an American conductor, violinist and composer. He began conducting at the age of eight and by 1953 had decided to pursue a career in music. He had established a reputation in th ...

, after which he served as associate music director of the

European Union Youth Orchestra The European Union Youth Orchestra (EUYO) is a youth orchestra with members drawn from the 27 members states of the European Union. Since its foundation in 1976, it has connected music colleges and the professional music world for generations o ...

under

Claudio Abbado Claudio Abbado (; 26 June 1933 – 20 January 2014) was an Italian conductor who was one of the leading conductors of his generation. He served as music director of the La Scala opera house in Milan, principal conductor of the London Symphony ...

. Judd made his

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

debut in 1988 conducting

Don Giovanni ''Don Giovanni'' (; K. 527; Vienna (1788) title: , literally ''The Rake Punished, or Don Giovanni'') is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Its subject is a centuries-old Spanis ...

for the

Florida Grand Opera Florida Grand Opera (FGO) is an American opera company based in Miami, Florida. It is the oldest performing arts organization in Florida and the seventh oldest opera company in the United States. FGO was created in 1994 from the consolidation of ...

. Judd was the last full-time music director of the Florida Philharmonic, from 1987 to 2001. In 2013, Judd was appointed music director of

The Little Orchestra Society :''Not to be confused by The Little Orchestra of London'' The Little Orchestra Society is an American orchestra based at 630 9th Avenue, Suite 807 in New York City. It was founded in 1947 by Thomas Scherman, who served as its conductor until his ...

. Judd is the founder of Miami Music Project, a non profit organization, which provides music education to children inspirated on an

El Sistema El Sistema (which translates to The System) is a publicly financed, voluntary sector, music-education program, founded in Venezuela in 1975 by Venezuelan educator, musician, and activist José Antonio Abreu.Lesniak It later adopted the motto "M ...

-style model. Judd was appointed music director of the

New Zealand Symphony Orchestra The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (NZSO) is a symphony orchestra based in Wellington, New Zealand. The national orchestra of New Zealand, the NZSO is an autonomous Crown entity owned by the Government of New Zealand, per the New Zealand Sympho ...

(NZSO), the first NZSO conductor with that title, in 1999. He held that position until 2007. He conducted several recordings with the NZSO for the

Naxos label Naxos comprises numerous companies, divisions, imprints, and labels specializing in classical music but also audiobooks and other genres. The premier label is Naxos Records which focuses on classical music. Naxos Musical Group encompasses about ...

, and led the NZSO in its first-ever appearance at

The Proms The BBC Proms or Proms, formally named the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hal ...

and

Concertgebouw The Royal Concertgebouw ( nl, Koninklijk Concertgebouw, ) is a concert hall in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The Dutch term "concertgebouw" translates into English as "concert building". Its superb acoustics place it among the finest concert halls i ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

in 2005. Judd now holds the title of Music Director Emeritus of the NZSO. In 2014, Judd became music director of the

Israel Symphony Orchestra Rishon LeZion The Israel Symphony Orchestra Rishon LeZion (ISO) (in hebrew: התזמורת הסימפונית הישראלית ראשון לציון) was founded in 1988 by the municipality of Rishon LeZion. A year later, in 1989, it became the resident orchestr ...

. He offered to waive his salary in 2015, in the wake of financial difficulties at the orchestra. In September 2016, Judd was appointed artistic director and principal conductor of the Daejeon Philharmonic Orchestra in Korea. He concluded his artistic directorship of the orchestra as of the close of the 2021–2022 season. He became chief conductor of the

Slovak Philharmonic The Slovak Philharmonic or Slovak State Philharmonic (Slovenská filharmónia) is a Slovak symphony orchestra based in Bratislava. Founded in 1949, the orchestra has resided since the 1950s in the Baroque era Reduta Bratislava concert hall constr ...

Orchestra as of the 2017–2018 season. As of 2019 he was scheduled to conclude his chief conductorship of the orchestra as of the close of the 2020–2021 season. Judd has returned to New Zealand to live while holding the position of artistic director and principal conductor of the Daejeon Philharmonic Orchestra in South Korea. Judd and his wife Valerie, a former member of the

New World Symphony Orchestra The New World Symphony is an American orchestral academy based in Miami Beach, Florida. Established in 1987, the organization is a training ensemble for young musicians in preparation for professional careers in classical music. Since 2011, the ...

, have a daughter.

References

External links

James Judd official website

NZSO biography of Judd

AllMusic page on James Judd

August 13, 1999 {{DEFAULTSORT:Judd, James British male conductors (music) 1949 births Living people 21st-century British conductors (music) 20th-century British conductors (music) Alumni of Trinity College of Music New Zealand Symphony Orchestra people People from Hertford 20th-century British male musicians 21st-century British male musicians