Overview
Kathy Judd is a versatile violinist and educator whose career encompasses orchestral leadership, solo and chamber performance, festival direction, and extensive teaching. She began her professional career as a member of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, touring, including performances in eastern and western Europe, soloing, recording, and appearing in chamber music collaborations with colleagues and guest artists, including pianist Gary Graffman.
As concertmaster and soloist, she has appeared with the Nevada Chamber Orchestra, Boulder Bach Festival Orchestra, Las Vegas Symphony, Midland–Odessa Symphony, and the Tempo Giusto Ensemble. She has also served as a string contractor and principal player in major showroom orchestras. As a chamber musician, Judd was a member of the Idylwild Trio, performing across the Southwestern U.S. and Taiwan, and of the Mariposa Piano Trio. Her festival appearances include engagements in the United States and Italy, as well as chamber music collaborations with pianist Alexander Paley and the Pressenda Chamber Players.
Judd served as Artistic and Executive Director of Music at Gretna, presenting and performing with esteemed national artists. For more than two decades she led the Washington Conservatory of Music as Artistic and Executive Director, where she developed concert programming, curricula, camps, masterclasses, and outreach initiatives while continuing an active teaching and performance schedule.
A Kansas native, she holds a Bachelor of Music in violin performance from the New England Conservatory and a Master of Musical Arts from Yale University. She has served as a panelist for national, state, county, and private arts foundations, as a juror for international and regional competitions, and as an evaluator for a national arts school accreditation association.
A dedicated and experienced teacher and coach, Judd’s faculty appointments have included department chair and violin faculty at the Idyllwild School of Music and the Arts, Assistant Professor of Violin at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Adjunct Instructor of Violin at Elizabethtown College, Chamber Music Coach at Temple University Music Prep and Chamber Music Conference of the East, violin and chamber music teacher at the Washington Conservatory of Music and Adjunct Associate Professor of violin at Shenandoah Conservatory.