James Judd, conductor, was born in Great Britain. He is the music director of the Israel Symphony Orchestra Rishon LeZion. He was music director of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, the Florida Philharmonic Orchestra and principal guest conductor of the Orchestre National de Lille, France. James Judd is a graduate of London’s Trinity College of Music and he came to international attention as the assistant conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra and Lorin Maazel. He was later 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. He has conducted numerous orchestras including the Berlin Philharmonic, the Israel Philharmonic, the Vienna Symphony, the Gewandhaus Orchestra of Leipzig, Prague Symphony, Orchestre National de France, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Zurich Tonhalle, the Monte-Carlo Symphony, the Mozarteum Orchestra of Salzburg, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Tokyo NHK Orchestra and many others. He also conducted many opera productions at the English National Opera and at the Glyndebourne Festival. Judd’s live recordings of Mahler’s symphonies, especially with youth orchestras, received enthusiastic international praise.