KATHY JUDD - VIOLIN, MUSIC & COMMON SENSE
a down-to-earth approach for stellar music-making
Welcome and thank you for visiting my site. I am a violinist, teacher, and consultant for the arts. This site is best viewed on a computer screen. On a phone screen please scroll through the blanks. Thanks.
In my private violin studio, in McLean, Virginia, I am currently accepting adult students and advanced high school students for limited weekend lesson times.
I am happy to share that I have accepted a position as Adjunct Associate Professor of Violin at Shenandoah Conservatory at Shenandoah University in Winchester, VA. beginning fall 2024!
For arts organization consultations please send me an email about your organization and the issues you would like to address.
ABOUT ME
Kathy Judd has led a multi-faceted musical life as a violinist, violin teacher, chamber music performer, orchestral and commercial musician, and arts administrator.
Following graduate studies, she was a violinist in the St. Paul (MN) Chamber Orchestra with whom she performed in the US, Western and Eastern Europe, and former Soviet Union and was also a soloist. She was Concertmaster and soloist of orchestras including the The Las Vegas Symphony, Boulder (CO) Bach Festival, and the Nevada Chamber Orchestra. Judd was a string contractor, lead player and member of Las Vegas showroom orchestras for top headliners. She has performed in orchestras, summer music festivals in the US and Europe, and as a member of multiple chamber music ensembles.
As a teacher, she was a faculty member at the Idyllwild School of Music and the Arts, an international residential high school in California, where she performed as a member of the ensemble-in-residence, including a tour in Taiwan. Her students won regional and national competitions. She was Assistant Professor of violin and member of the trio-in-residence at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and taught as adjunct violin faculty at Elizabethtown College (PA) and chamber music at Temple University Music Prep. She has taught at music camps in Nevada, Vermont, California, and Maryland. She was recently appointed Adjunct Associate Professor at Shenandoah Conservatory in Winchester, VA.
As an arts administrator, for 25+ years Judd was Executive and Artistic Director of the Washington Conservatory of Music, a nationally accredited community music school (near DC), ending her tenure June 1, 2024. She was formerly Chair of the music department at Idyllwild Arts Academy (CA), and Artistic and Executive Director of Music at Gretna, (PA) a year-round chamber music and jazz concert series presenting artists such as the Count Basie Orchestra, Nancy Wilson, the Shanghai, Borromeo, and Audubon string quartets, among many others, and commissioning music and conceiving of performances by various combinations of musicians. As a grant writer, Judd has successfully written and received multiple grants and has also served as a grants panelist for a private foundation, as well as a state and national arts granting panelist (and chair) and a visiting evaluator for a national arts accreditation organization.
She earned an undergraduate degree in violin performance from New England Conservatory and 3-year Master of Musical Arts performance degree from Yale University with studies at Wichita State University and summers at Aspen Music Festival, Dartmouth College Festival, among others.
And, Judd once sold six one-liners to comedienne Joan Rivers, (for a whopping $60) and before the snow melted, trekked to the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro. She camped in the Amazon Rainforest, walked a 100 miles in the Cotswolds, kayaked in Viet Nam, hoed potatoes in Northern Scotland, hiked in the Himalayas, rode a camel in the Sahara Desert, zip-lined in Costa Rica, and is recharged by the new adventures and people she feels lucky to meet along the way.
My perspective on teaching
Please peruse my blog to get a sense of my approach, or view this short coaching session
When I taught at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, I gave my students pencils to mark their music imprinted with "Judd Studio of Violin & Common Sense," summarizing my teaching approach.
Music is sound. It seems obvious, but it's astonishing how many violinists focus on technique and intonation without paying attention to the qualities of their basic sound, the bedrock of music-making.
When I mention "common sense," I am referring to approaching sound production and all complex aspects of playing through what is familiar. For instance, using your body and body language while playing in ways similar to normal daily usage can significantly enhance your performance, alleviate muscle soreness, and save time and frustration. Additionally, creating and implementing a goal-oriented practice plan is the fastest path to improvement. Common sense, right?
Most importantly, there must be joy in the process of learning how to make music. What is the point if there isn't? It is helpful to embrace the perspective that there is no end to the fascinating process of mining the depth of music - because the whole point of refining your sound and your technique is to have your voice ready to bring the profound experience of music off the page.
Everyone is different and deserves a personalized approach to learning. Whether a violinist or an ensemble -the ultimate goal and deepest satisfaction is finding your personal, most expansive, and expressive pipeline for communicating the transformative power of music - to yourself and your audience.
I'd love to help you do that. Make sense?
Live Performance: Vivaldi Winter, Movement I - soloist, K. Judd
My perspective as a consultant for arts organizations
Having worked as an arts administrator in both the performing arts and educational sectors for decades, served on state and national arts granting panels and for a private foundation, and been a visiting evaluator of some amazing arts schools, here is what I have learned: there isn't an arts organization that doesn't have warts. Some are hardly noticeable, some have been there so long no one cares, and some are holding them back from their potential to change lives. And isn't that the point?
I've been there and done that as an arts administrator for over three decades as a music school administrator and concert producer and presenter by:
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Leading: a music department, a year-round concert series, and a nationally accredited community school
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Creating: producing and presenting concerts, projects, camps and classes for adults and students
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Serving: on judging panels and knowing the conversations when grant application funding is being considered.
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Evaluating - the community music education potential for the music department of a major state university, the education program of a major orchestra, and being a visiting evaluator for accredited community arts schools.
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Researching and writing applications for over $2,000,000 in granted funds
I know the potential outcomes of well-meaning people taking uninformed actions that can crush the life and art out of an arts organization. I'm happy to talk to see if my experience and perspective can help you achieve your goals.
Hint #1: Your mission is a daily touchstone
Hint #2: Diversity, Equity and Inclusion are action words.
I believe that with a few exceptions, every frog in the arts world has prince potential,
though every transformative process is unique and only in fairy tales does it happen instantly with a kiss.
