Currently in his third season as Assistant Conductor of The Cleveland Orchestra, James Feddeck made his debut with the orchestra in August 2009 at the Blossom Music Festival.  In March 2011, he appeared for the first time on the orchestra’s subscription series in Severance Hall, replacing Music Director Franz Welser-Möst at the last minute in the Zurich Opera’s production of Mozart’s Don Giovanni.  He has led a number of new initiatives with the orchestra, most recently “Italian Masterworks,” a concert series and innovative collaboration between The Cleveland Orchestra and the Cleveland Museum of Art that explores the connections between music and visual art.  An accomplished pianist and organist, Mr. Feddeck conducted one of these concerts from the harpsichord.

In addition to his duties as Assistant Conductor, Mr. Feddeck serves as the Music Director of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra, which he leads on a European tour in June 2012 and has conducted throughout northeast Ohio.

Recent and upcoming conducting engagements include appearances with the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra (with soloist Yo-Yo Ma), the Toledo Symphony Orchestra, the Omaha Symphony Orchestra, the Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra, the Kennedy Center Opera Orchestra (for performances in the Ballet Across America Festival), the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra. ... read full bio

Currently in his third season as Assistant Conductor of The Cleveland Orchestra, James Feddeck made his debut with the orchestra in August 2009 at the Blossom Music Festival.  In March 2011, he appeared for the first time on the orchestra’s subscription series in Severance Hall, replacing Music Director Franz Welser-Möst at the last minute in the Zurich Opera’s production of Mozart’s Don Giovanni.  He has led a number of new initiatives with the orchestra, most recently “Italian Masterworks,” a concert series and innovative collaboration between The Cleveland Orchestra and the Cleveland Museum of Art that explores the connections between music and visual art.  An accomplished pianist and organist, Mr. Feddeck conducted one of these concerts from the harpsichord.

In addition to his duties as Assistant Conductor, Mr. Feddeck serves as the Music Director of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra, which he leads on a European tour in June 2012 and has conducted throughout northeast Ohio.

Recent and upcoming conducting engagements include appearances with the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra (with soloist Yo-Yo Ma), the Toledo Symphony Orchestra, the Omaha Symphony Orchestra, the Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra, the Kennedy Center Opera Orchestra (for performances in the Ballet Across America Festival), the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra.

Before his appointment in Cleveland, Mr. Feddeck was Assistant Conductor of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra for two seasons.  He was a conducting fellow for three summers at the American Academy of Conducting at the Aspen Music Festival and School, receiving the Robert J. Harth Conductor Prize in 2007 and the Aspen Conducting Prize in 2008, which entitled him to a fourth year at the festival, as Assistant Conductor. He was the also unanimous winner of the Sixth Vakhtang Jordania International Conducting Competition and, at twenty-two, its youngest participant. Mr. Feddeck is the recipient of a Career Assistance Award from the Solti Foundation U.S.

Mr. Feddeck’s musical training and background is unusually diverse and multifaceted. He was admitted to the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in four areas--piano, oboe, organ and conducting, a rare distinction. At Oberlin, he conducted his first fully staged operatic production, Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte.  After receiving undergraduate and graduate degrees from Oberlin, he continued his conducting studies at the University of Michigan and at Aspen, where he was protégé of David Zinman and participated in opera scene master classes with Patrick Summers, Harry Bicket and James Conlon. In April 2010 Mr. Feddeck took part in a master class with Mr. Zinman in Zurich, Switzerland that culminated in a performance (and his debut) with the Tonhalle Orchestra.

Mr. Feddeck has performed organ recitals throughout Europe and North America, won competitions sponsored by the American Guild of Organists, and has been featured on Pipedreams, a nationally syndicated radio program. An advocate of new music, he has commissioned and premiered works for oboe, including Daniel Pinkham’s Oboe Quartet. In 2010 he was recognized by Oberlin as the first recipient of the Outstanding Young Alumni Award for professional achievement and contributions to society.

Last updated November 2011. Contact Opus 3 Artists for the most up-to-date version.