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James JUDD |
Music Director of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, British-born conductor James Judd is also the Principal Guest Conductor of the Orchestre National de Lille in France.
Within a period of eight years
as Music Director in New Zealand, Judd has embarked on an unprecedented
number of recordings with the orchestra for the NAXOS label – including
works by Copland, Bernstein, Vaughan Williams, Gershwin and many others.
He has brought the orchestra to
a new level of visibility and international acclaim through appearances
at the 2000 Summer Sydney Olympic Arts Festival, the 2003 Auckland International
Arts Festival, the Osaka Festival of International Orchestras as well
as a specially televised Millenium Concert with Kiri Te Kanawa as soloist.
He recently lead the orchestra on its first ever tour of the major concert
halls of Europe culminating with a debut appearance at the BBC Proms and
the Concertgebouw in August, 2005.
A graduate of London’s Trinity College of Music, Mr. Judd came to international attention as the Assistant Conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra, a post he accepted at the invitation of Lorin Maazel. Four years later, he returned to Europe after being appointed Associate Music Director of the European Community Youth Orchestra by Claudio Abbado, an ensemble with which he continues to serve as an honorary Artistic Director.
Since that time, James Judd has led the Berlin Philharmonic and the Israel Philharmonic; he has conducted in the great concert halls of Europe, including the Salzburg Mozarteum and Vienna’s Musikverein; and has made guest appearances with such prestigious ensembles as the Vienna Symphony, Gewandhaus Orchestra of Leipzig, Prague Symphony, Orchestre National de France, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra, the Monte-Carlo Symphony Orchestra, the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, the Flemish Radio Orchestra, and the Mozarteum Orchestra of Salzburg.
As opera conductor, he has appeared with the English National Opera conducting productions of Il Trovatore, La Traviata, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Rigoletto, and Le Nozze di Figaro; and at the Glyndebourne Opera Festival in Rossini’s La Cenerentola.
He continues to conduct all of the major British ensembles, including the London Philharmonic, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Hallé Orchestra, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, and the English Chamber Orchestra. He was co-founder of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, which he has led on tours throughout the United States, the Far East and Europe.
In North and South America he is a frequent and much-admired guest conductor, having appeared with the orchestras of St. Louis, Montreal, Cincinnatti, Pittsburgh, Seattle, Indianapolis, Utah, Vancouver and Ottawa.
James Judd’s recent international performances included highly acclaimed engagements with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, Sao Paulo State Symphony Orchestra, the Russian National Orchestra, the Orchestre National de Lille, the Madrid National Radio Orchestra, the Prague Symphony Orchestra, and the Slovak Philharmonic at the Bratislava Festival.
Concerts in the 03-04 season included appearances with the Halle Orchestra (Manchester), the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, the NHK Symphony, the Euskadi Orchestra, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, the Seattle Symphony, the Buffalo Philharmonic, the Sydney Symphony, the Juilliard Orchestra, the National Arts Centre Orchestra of Ottawa and many others.
Season 2004-05 saw returns to the NHK Symphony Orchestra, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, the National Arts Centre Orchestra Ottawa, the Slovak Philharmonic and the Bournemouth Symphony – alongside debuts at the KBS Symphony (Seoul), the Sydney Symphony, and the Columbus (Ohio) Symphony.
In season 05-06 he made a triumphant return to the Haydn Festival Eisenstadt with the Austro-Hungarian Haydn Orchestra, and made two more returns in his highly successful collaboration with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. A frequent guest with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, he also conducted with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Residentie Orchestra (The Hague), the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, the New Japan Philharmonic, the Singapore Symphony, and the Seoul Philharmonic.
With his 14-year tenure as Music Director of The Florida Philharmonic Orchestra, Maestro Judd can easily lay claim to the creation of one of America’s orchestral success stories. His musical vision and dynamic leadership have garnered him the title of South Florida’s preeminent cultural leader.
The Florida Philharmonic’s recordings, an all-Walton program and Mahler’s Symphony No.1 including “Blumine,” both led by James Judd, have been released on the Harmonica Mundi label to international acclaim. The Mahler CD was named “Recording of the Month” in Stereophile, received the Gold Medal from France’s Diapason, and most notably, was awarded the “Toblacher Komponierhauschen” at the Salzburg Festival from the Gustav Mahler Society for the best new Mahler recording of the year world-wide.
James Judd also served as Artistic Director of the Florida Grand Opera from 1993- 1996. He made his U.S. opera debut in 1988 conducting Don Giovanni for that institution.
A widely-recorded artist,
James Judd’s live recordings of Mahler’s Symphonies No. 9
with the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra and No. 10 with the European Community
Youth Orchestra received enthusiastic international praise, as did his
performance of Elgar’s Symphony No. 1 with the Hallé Orchestra.
He recorded Brahms symphonies with the Royal Philharmonic on the Tring
label and continues to fulfill an ongoing project with the Naxos label
of works by American composers Copland, Steve Reich, Takemitsu, Gershwin
and Bernard Herrmann as well as works by British composers such as Elgar,
Lilburn, Vaughan Williams, Tippett and many others. James Judd is featured
in symphonic repertoire on the Phillips, Nuova Era, Novalis, Capriccio
and Pickwick labels; and complete operas by Meyerbeer and Donizetti on
the Opera Rara label.