It was in Hertfordshire, about 25 miles north
of London where he fell in love with the
sound of music before he could speak. James
Judd took piano lessons with the organist at
the church so when his legs were long enough
he would be able to play. Every Saturday, his
parents would take him to London to listen to
music at Festival Hall. Afterwards, Judd would
spend hours studying sheet music at the Foils
bookstore.
Where did this passion for music come from?
"I think it is in the soul. I believe we all made
music before we spoke as humans on this
earth. We probably communicated by putting
notes together before we put words together,”
says Judd.
It is this same passion that has caused Judd
to return to South Florida. This pre-eminent
maestro was the music director of the now
defunct Florida Philharmonic Orchestra
and the Florida Grand Opera for 14 years
until 2001.
A graduate of London’s Trinity College
of Music, James has held positions of
Assistant Conductor of the Cleveland
Orchestra under Lorin Mazel, Music
Director of the New Zealand Symphony
Orchestra and guest conductor at many
of the great concert halls around the
world. He has made over 70 recordings
and won numerous awards including the
International Mahler Society Gold award
for best at the Salzburg Music Festival.
This past December, Judd graced South
Florida’s stage to perform Handel’s
Messiah with the Master Chorale of
South Florida. Judd's focus is now on the
Miami Music Project.
Judd’s involvement with the Miami Music
Project began when he was introduced
to Richard Harris, a former New World
Symphony trombonist. The Miami Music
Project adopted 200 under-served children in
10 Miami-Dade middle schools and is sending
ensembles into these schools to perform and
talk to the children about music. These sessions
will hopefully deepen the students’ appreciation
and connection to great orchestral music and to
music in general. The children work side-by-side
with the musicians compose their own music
using special computer software. The project
recently received a $1 million three-year grant
from the Knight Foundation to bring classical
music education into more schools.
The response from students and teachers has
been overwhelming. Leslie Cooper, a teacher
at Richmond Heights Middle School heard her
students humming the music in the hallway.
“This was a once in a lifetime opportunity to
see musicians of their caliber interacting with
the students,” says Audrey Carballo, a 7th grade
teacher at the Bob Graham Education Center.
The inspiring thing about bringing music into
the schools is the lasting impact it has on the
children. “If you learn to listen to music and you
really let music effect you, then you will learn to
listen to one another,” says Judd.
The Miami Music Project’s goal is the end of
the year festival to be held May 16th at the
Westin Colonnade Hotel in Goral Gables. At this
festival the music the students co-created will be
performed. The group is also busy planning for
its big festival in May 2011.
“Music can bring people together. Music is
a great healer. Music can actually transform
people’s lives. It is my intent to bring all of that
to South Florida, starting with the children. It is a
necessity, not an option,” says Judd.
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