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.

Osvaldo Golijov’s “Tenebrae”: Melismatic Echoes of Couperin

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In Western Christianity, Tenebrae occurs in the final days of the Holy Week, and commemorates the sufferings and death of Christ. It involves the gradual extinguishing of candles, leading to a void of darkness. Metaphorical darkness, light, and space formed the inspiration for Tenebrae, a 2002 chamber work by Argentine composer, Osvaldo Golijov (b. 1960). (The piece was originally scored for soprano, clarinet, and string quartet, and later adapted for strings alone). …

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Liszt’s “La Chapelle de Guillaume Tell” from “Années de Pèlerinage”: Horn Calls and Heroism

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During the 1830s, Franz Liszt embraced the romantic life of the medieval Troubadours. While in a relationship with the Countess Marie d’Agoult, Liszt wandered throughout the countryside of Switzerland and Italy, where he visited “places consecrated by history and poetry,” and found the “phenomena of nature” to be deeply stirring. These travels formed the inspiration for Années de pèlerinage (“Years of Pilgrimage”), a three-volume cycle of 26 pieces for solo piano. The …

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Perlman Plays Morricone: The Love Theme from “Cinema Paradiso”

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Itzhak Perlman joins the Richmond Symphony this weekend. The program includes music from Perlman’s Cinema Serenade albums, both of which feature solo violin adaptations of classic film music. The first Cinema Serenade volume, released in 1996, concludes with the love theme from the 1988 coming-of-age drama, Cinema Paradiso. The film was scored by the late Academy Award-winning Italian composer, Ennio Morricone, who worked in collaboration with his son, Andrea Morricone. It was Andrea …

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David Diamond’s Music for Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”: Atmospheric Vignettes

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The music of American composer David Diamond (1915-2005) is distinct and recognizable. Built on tonal and modal harmony and wide open voicing, often it develops through fleeting motivic fragments which combine to form a landscape as expansive and majestic as the American frontier. Although a longtime member of the faculty of the Juilliard School, Diamond was a maverick who was out of step with prevailing musical trends. In 1949, when he approached …

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Handel’s “Stille Amare”: The “Poison” Aria from “Tolomeo”

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Handel’s opera, Tolomeo, HWV 25, was first performed at the King’s Theatre in London on April 30, 1728, and featured a spectacular and renowned cast, which the composer imported from Italy. Set in 108 BC, its plot is ripe for high drama: The story of Tolomeo is set in Ancient Egypt and follows Tolomeo, the son of a deposed king, who is forced to marry Seleuce, who is already married to his …

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Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto in E-flat Major: A Thrilling Technical Experiment

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When Franz Joseph Haydn composed his Trumpet Concerto in E-flat Major in 1796, he was at the forefront of a thrilling new technical experiment. Traditionally, the valveless natural trumpet was limited to the pitches of the overtone series. In the lower register, these pitches amounted to bugle call notes. In classical symphonies, trumpets were used sparingly to punctuate climaxes with celebratory fanfares. Only in its highest register could the natural trumpet access …

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Haydn’s “Mass in Time of War”: Martial Fanfares and Thundering Timpani

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A revolutionary current runs through Franz Joseph Haydn’s Mass in Time of War (Mass No. 10 in C Major). It approaches the liturgy with a new sense of tumultuous drama, with military fanfares ringing out in the closing movement. The rumbling artillery of its timpani rolls earned the work the nickname, Paukenmesse (“Kettledrum Mass”). In a way which foreshadows Beethoven’s Missa solemnis, the instrumental lines take on new dramatic prominence, rather than …

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