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James Blachly is a Grammy®-winning conductor dedicated to enriching the concert experience by connecting with audiences in memorable and meaningful ways. James Blachly serves as Music Director of Experiential Orchestra and Johnstown Symphony Orchestra. He is a versatile guest conductor in diverse repertoire for orchestras including New York Philharmonic, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, and WDR Funkhausorchester.

With the Experiential Orchestra (EXO), Blachly has conducted the works of Arvo Pärt at The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, invited audiences to dance to Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring and Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker, sit within the orchestra at Lincoln Center, engage in an immersive performance of Strauss’s Four Last Songs Reimagined with cellist Andrew Yee and soprano Sarah Brailey, and gave the New York and Washington D.C. premiere of Julia Perry’s Violin Concerto with soloist Curtis Stewart. During his most recent season, EXO partnered with Videmus to organize the largest celebration of Julia Perry in the world, in honor of her centenary.

James Blachly’s reputation as a powerful advocate for undercelebrated composers was established with his world premiere recording with EXO of English composer Dame Ethel Smyth’s 1930 masterpiece The Prison. Released on Chandos Records, The Prison won a 2021 Grammy Award and was widely acclaimed by The New York Times, The New Yorker, Gramophone, Financial Times, The Guardian, and many others. This is the first-ever Grammy Award for music by Smyth, who lived from 1858-1944 and struggled her entire career to have her music judged on its merits rather than on the basis of her gender. In 2024, Blachly released American Counterpoints which features the world premiere recording of Julia Perry’s Violin Concerto with Curtis Stewart and earned two Grammy Award nominations. Released on Bright Shiny Things, American Counterpoints spotlights composers Julia Perry and Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, asserting the central importance of these underrecognized composers in American classical music.

A strong supporter of composers of our time, Blachly has commissioned and premiered more than 40 works by composers including Jessie Montgomery, Courtney Bryan, Viet Cuong, Michi Wiancko, Kate Copeland Ettinger, Tommy Daugherty, Patrick Castillo, Brad and Doug Balliett, and many others. In recent seasons, he has collaborated with soloists Daniel Hope, Paul Jacobs, Julia Bullock, Dashon Burton, Michelle Cann, Andrew Yee, Curtis Stewart, Simone Porter, and more.

With the Johnstown Symphony, Blachly has conducted the orchestra at the Flight 93 Memorial for the 20th Anniversary of 9/11, in a former steel mill in a concert that was featured on Katie Couric’s America Inside Out, at the First Summit Arena at the War Memorial, and in eight seasons the orchestra has increased season ticket sales and annual giving each by more than 50%. In 2021, he received a commendation by the City of Johnstown and the Johnstown chapter of the NAACP. In recent seasons, Blachly has introduced an annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Juneteenth, and youth concert.

Full biography here.

America @ 250 & 10th Anniversary as Music Director at the Johnstown Symphony

As the Johnstown Symphony Orchestra enters its 97th season, we celebrate two powerful milestones: the 250th anniversary of the United States and Music Director James Blachly’s 10th year with the JSO. This year’s programming honors our nation’s musical heritage with works by iconic American composers like Aaron Copland and Samuel Barber, bold new voices such as Levi Taylor and Caroline Mallonee, whose latest composition, co-commissioned with the New York Philharmonic, will premiere with us in March, and the unmistakable influence of jazz, a cornerstone of American music.  

Throughout the season, we reflect on the strength of our community: the people and values that have carried us through challenges and triumphs alike. We honor the roots of our symphony’s success, our dedicated musicians, passionate staff, and steadfast supporters and board members, while also exploring the personal and collective musical origins that continue to shape our sound. With music that spans generations, genres, and traditions, including classical masterworks and soulful jazz, there is truly something for everyone.  

Still Celebrating: American Counterpoints Nominated for Two 2025 Grammy Awards for Best Classical Compendium and for Best Classical Instrumental Solo

Following on our Grammy®-Winning Smyth recording, Experiential Orchestra is proud to announce the world-premiere recording of Julia Perry’s Concrto for Violin and Orchestra with soloist Curtis Stewart. The album was officially released March 1, 2024 on the Bright Shiny Things label.

Featuring the world-premiere recording of Julia Perry's Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, the album asserts the central importance of composers Julia Perry and Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson in American classical music, juxtaposing early and late works of both composers and interweaving their compositions with original music by Curtis Stewart. Buy the album here.

Reviewed on NPR and more.

"There aren’t too many albums, however good they might be, that make me stop everything all at once to listen to a second time. This is that album.  Founder/conductor Blachly and the Experiential Orchestra could very well find themselves on track for a second Grammy Award for this incredible recording.” -Craig Byrd, Cultural Attaché

Also Still Celebrating –

James Blachly won a 2021 Grammy® Award for conducting Experiential Orchestra’s
World-Premiere Recording of Dame Ethel Smyth’s The Prison, released on Chandos Records