James Judd
Conductor James Judd has had an exceptionally varied career. He has led orchestras in western and eastern Europe, the U.S., Korea, and Israel, as well as shaping a top European youth orchestra.
Judd was born on October 30, 1949, in Hertford, UK. He studied at London's Trinity College of Music, taking piano courses with Alfred Kitchin and conducting with Bernard Keefe. After completing his studies in 1971, he was accepted as a conductor trainee at the London Opera Centre. He has continued to conduct opera from time to time (notably with the English National Opera), but he switched to orchestral music when he took the opportunity to become an assistant conductor under Lorin Maazel at the Cleveland Orchestra from 1973 to 1975. Judd was invited by Claudio Abbado to become the associate music director of the new European Community Youth Orchestra in 1978. He has continued to conduct that group, becoming the honorary artistic director in 1990.
In 1987, Judd was named the music director of the Florida Philharmonic, building the orchestra from a regional group to one with an international reputation. While in Florida, he founded the Miami Music Project, a youth musical training program modeled on Venezuela's El Sistema. He also made numerous guest conducting appearances beginning in the 1990s, including those with the London Philharmonic, the Gewandhaus Orchestra of Leipzig, and the Cincinnati Symphony. In 1999, Judd became the music director of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra; he was the first conductor in the orchestra's history to hold that title. Judd resigned from the Florida Philharmonic in 2001, amid an acrimonious atmosphere resulting from financial difficulties (the orchestra folded in 2003). He continued to make guest appearances, including one at the BBC Proms with the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra in 2005. Judd became the music director of the Israel Symphony Orchestra in 2014, but that group too encountered financial problems. He moved to the Daejeon Philharmonic Orchestra in Korea in 2016, and the following year, he added the chief conductorship of the Slovak Philharmonic to his portfolio. Judd's association with the Slovak Philharmonic is scheduled through 2021.
Judd has a large recording catalog that includes releases on Harmonia Mundi (where his 1994 recording of the Mahler Symphony No. 1 in D major with the Florida Philharmonic was widely praised), RCA, and Capriccio, among other labels. He led performances of rare operas by Donizetti and Meyerbeer for the Opera Rara label. In the 2000s, Judd has often been associated with the Naxos label, making many recordings with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. In 2020, he released an album of music by Bernstein and Gershwin on Naxos, featuring the Wolf Trap Opera and the National Orchestral Institute Philharmonic.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Opera Arias
Jonathan Lemalu, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, James Judd
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 4 Apr 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Symphonie n° 2 - Danses de West Side Story - Ouverture de Candide
Florida Philharmonic Orchestra, Jean Louis Steuerman, James Judd
Classical - Released by Naxos on 1 Jan 2002
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rhapsody In Blue: Saint-Säens, Ravel, Gershwin
Benjamin Grosvenor, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, James Judd
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Violin Concerto in D Major, Romances for Violin & Orchestra, and Triple Concerto in C Major
Thomas Albertus Irnberger, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, David GerIngas, James Judd, Michael Korstick
Classical - Released by Gramola Records on 21 Jul 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
An American in Paris
Kathryn Selby, Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, James Judd, Richard Hayman
Classical - Released by Naxos on 1 Jan 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vaughan Williams: Oboe Concerto - Strauss: Oboe Concerto
Robin Canter, London Symphony Orchestra, James Judd
Classical - Released by imp on 1 Jan 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Music Of The Masters
The Chamber Orchestra of Europe, James Judd
Classical - Released by imp on 1 Jan 1985
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sinfonietta - Die Seejungfrau
New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, James Judd
Classical - Released by Naxos on 10 Jul 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Egmont op.84
Madeleine Pierard, Claus Obalski, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, James Judd
Classical - Released by Naxos on 4 Jan 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
R. Strauss: Eine Alpensinfonie; Mahler: Adagio from Symphony No. 10 – Judd
James Judd, European Union Youth Orchestra
Classical - Released by Musical Concepts on 28 Apr 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
A Royal Fanfare (New Zealand Symphony Orchestra - James Judd)
Classical - Released by The Gift of Music on 27 Feb 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Favourite Piano Concertos-Vol.4
Classical - Released by Documents on 1 Sep 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mahler: Symphony No. 1 (with "Blumine")
James Judd, Florida Philarmonic Orchestra
Symphonies - Released by harmonia mundi on 10 Jun 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Babylon - 5 Jours & 5 Nuits
Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester Berlin, James Judd
Classical - Released by CapriccioNR on 1 Jan 1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Klavierkonzert Nr. 1 Tchaikovsky
James Judd, John Lill, London Symphony Orchestra
Classical - Released by Warner Music Group - X5 Music Group on 16 May 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Donizetti: Ne m'oubliez pas & Arias
Margreta Elkins, Alexander Oliver, Philharmonia Orchestra, James Judd
Classical - Released by Opera Rara on 1 Jan 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Voice Inside
Madeleine Pierard, Michael Kirgan, David Bremner, Vesa-Matti Leppanen, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, James Judd
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Released by Naxos on 7 Dec 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Symphonie n° 1 / Concerto pour orchestre
Helen Medlyn, Nathan Gunn, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, James Judd
Classical - Released by Naxos on 5 Jan 2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Favourite Symphonies-Vol.3
Classical - Released by Documents on 1 Sep 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Piano Concerto No. 1 Tchaikovsky
James Judd, John Lill, London Symphony Orchestra
Classical - Released by Warner Music Group - X5 Music Group on 16 May 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Concerto para Piano No. 1 Tchaikovsky
James Judd, John Lill, London Symphony Orchestra
Classical - Released by Warner Music Group - X5 Music Group on 16 May 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo