Judith Ricker teaches “Marketing for Musical Enterprises” in the Eastman School of Music’s newest graduate degree program, Master of Arts in Music Leadership.  She also teaches oboe at Nazareth College and is a member of the Wilmont Woodwind Quintet.

Judy has always straddled the arts and business worlds. She began her career performing in the oboe section of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and teaching at the Hochstein School of Music and Dance. In 1991, she entered the business world, first at Eastman Kodak Company.  Her research on the Kodak brand earned the company a 1997 Effie Award for advertising effectiveness. She then joined Harris Interactive, where her clients included many of the Fortune 100. As President of the Brand and Communications Research group, her team won several Ogilvy Awards for advertising effectiveness.

She joined Market Probe, a global market research firm in 2011 as Executive Vice President of Brand Research. While at the firm, she developed the Brand Passion equity model, an approach to exploring consumer relationships with brands, for which she was honored with the 2012 Silver Innovation Award from the Advertising Research Foundation.   Since retiring from her position at the company, Judy has continued as an independent brand and research consultant.

She remains an active musician, and is a founding member of Antara Winds, a professional woodwind quintet established in 1982. The group has several commissioned works to its credit.  She also plays with the Rochester Oratorio Society Orchestra, as well as with other local organizations.  Judy has served on the Board of Directors of the Hochstein School for many years and is a former Board Chair.

Judy holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees, as well as a Performer’s Certificate from the Eastman School of Music, and an MBA in Marketing and Finance from the William E. Simon School of Business Administration of the University of Rochester.