Timothy Judd

A native of Upstate New York, Timothy Judd has been a member of the Richmond Symphony violin section since 2001. He is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music where he earned the degrees Bachelor of Music and Master of Music, studying with world renowned Ukrainian-American violinist Oleh Krysa. The son of public school music educators, Timothy Judd began violin lessons at the age of four through Eastman’s Community Education Division. He was a student of Anastasia Jempelis, one of the earliest champions of the Suzuki method in the United States. A passionate teacher, Mr. Judd has maintained a private violin studio in the Richmond area since 2002 and has been active coaching chamber music and numerous youth orchestra sectionals. In his free time, Timothy Judd enjoys working out with Richmond’s popular SEAL Team Physical Training program.

“The Lord is My Shepherd”: Settings of Psalm 23 by Rutter and Schubert

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English composer John Rutter (b. 1945) composed a setting of Psalm 23 in 1976 as a standalone anthem, and later incorporated it as the sixth movement of his supremely beautiful 1985 Requiem. The solo oboe, an instrument which carries pastoral associations, is a recurring voice, at once longing and serene. The harp, another prominent voice, has ancient rustic roots among shepherds. Scored for four-part female choir, Franz Schubert’s setting of Psalm 23 …

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Strauss’ Horn Concerto No. 1 In E Flat Major: Youthful Outdoor Adventures

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Composed in 1883, the Horn Concerto No. 1 in E-flat Major, Op. 11 is music of the young 19-year-old Richard Strauss. “We sense his young confidence,” says William Caballero, Principal horn player of the Pittsburgh Symphony. “We also hear the gentle, warm, reflective side of Strauss.” Even as a teenager, Strauss knew the horn intimately. His father, Franz Strauss, was the respected first horn player of the Munich Court Orchestra. Strauss inscribed …

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Michael Torke’s “Last Summer”: Music for Solo Violin and String Orchestra

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Last Summer by American composer Michael Torke (b. 1961) is a reflection on the passage of time. Its quietly noble descending bass line is set in sixths, a rich interval Brahms used in his most nostalgic works. (For example, listen to the opening of the autumnal Intermezzo in A Major, Op. 118). This excerpt is part of a collection of twelve meditative pieces for violin and string orchestra, composed in 2025, simply …

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Nielsen’s Wind Quintet: A Cast of Instrumental Characters

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Danish composer Carl Nielsen’s Wind Quintet, Op. 43 unfolds as a musical conversation among a cast of instrumental characters. Composed in 1922 immediately following the Fifth Symphony, the Quintet is scored for flute, oboe (English horn), clarinet, bassoon, and horn. Nielsen was inspired to write the work after a brief telephone conversation with a fellow musician in which he heard, in the background, members of the Copenhagen Wind Quintet rehearsing Mozart’s Sinfonia …

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Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in D Minor: Climbing Everest

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Sergei Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30 has been called “the Everest of piano concertos.” Rachmaninov composed it during the summer of 1909 at Ivanovka, his estate in the steppes of southern Russia, before embarking on his lucrative first American concert tour. Without time to properly learn the solo part, the composer practiced on a “silent keyboard” during the trans-Atlantic voyage. He performed it, first with Walter Damrosch and …

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Remembering Antonino Fogliani

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Italian conductor Antonino Fogliani passed away on August 29 following a long illness. He was 50. Fogliani was an acclaimed interpreter of Italian bel canto and Rossini opera. Born in Messina, he rose to international prominence in 2001 when he debuted at the Rossini Opera Festival, leading Il viaggio a Reims. In 2012 he became music director of the Rossini in Wildbad Festival. Beginning in 2017, he served as principal guest conductor of …

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Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 and Paul Simon’s “American Tune”: Christina Courtin and The Knights

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In the Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G Major, scored for three violins, three violas, and three cellos with continuo, Bach pushes a form, developed by Vivaldi, to magical new heights. The first and third movements are filled with conversing instrumental voices, sparkling virtuosity, and daring harmonic surprises. For the second movement, Bach provided a single measure with only two cadential chords. Here, musicians are free to improvise or substitute another slow …

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