James Feddeck

James Feddeck is Principal Conductor & Musical Advisor of The Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra for the 2025–26 season. 

A conductor of international acclaim, Feddeck inspires audiences with a presence felt across the world’s finest stages. In North America, he has conducted major symphony orchestras including Chicago, Cleveland, Montreal, San Francisco, and Toronto. His performances with leading European orchestras include the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, the national orchestras of France, Belgium, Ireland, and Scotland, and major UK orchestras. In addition, he regularly performs throughout Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. 

For the last five seasons, Feddeck served as principal director of Milan’s Orchestra I Pomeriggi Musicali, leading both opera and concert performances. 

He has collaborated with many of the world’s foremost soloists, including Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Marc-André Hamelin, Yo-Yo Ma, Midori, and Lise de la Salle. His recorded discography includes works by Georg Schumann for CPO with the Deutsche Symphonie-Orchester Berlin (2017), as well as the music of Terry Riley and Dane Rudhyar with The Cleveland Orchestra and Calder Quartet (2022). 

Feddeck was previously appointed to The Cleveland Orchestra’s conducting staff in 2009, during which he also served as Music Director of The Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra and led their first European tour. 

Feddeck is a graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where he received the Outstanding Alumni Award, and the Aspen Music Festival and School, which awarded him the Robert Harth and Aspen prizes. He was also the winner of the prestigious Solti Conducting Fellowship and the sixth Vakhtang Jordania International Conducting Competition.