Hailed by the Washington Post as an “up-and-coming conductor” and a “true
star” of the podium, conductor, rock guitarist, author and cellist Kenneth Woods
has worked with many orchestras of international distinction including the
National Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony, BBC National Orchestra
of Wales, Northern Sinfonia, Budapest Festival Orchestra and the State of
Mexico Symphony Orchestra. He has also appeared on the stages of some of
the world’s leading music festivals, including Aspen, Lucerne, Round Top and
Scotia. His work on the concert platform and in the recording studio has led to
numerous broadcasts on BBC Radio 3, National Public Radio, and the Canadian
Broadcasting Corporation.
In 2010, Kenneth Woods was appointed Principal Guest Conductor of
Orchestra of the Swan, with whom he made his debut in the final concert of the
Spring Sounds Festival. He will not only be active with the orchestra in concert,
but in recordings as well, starting with an all-Mahler CD for Somm Records in
November of 2010. As music director of the Oregon East Symphony from 2000-
9, he transformed a tiny orchestra in a remote, rural area into possibly the most
talked-about orchestra in the Pacific Northwest, winning universal praise for their
nationally celebrated “Redneck Mahler” cycle, progressive programming and
their innovative youth programs. Other permanent affiliations include the
Contemporary Music Ensemble of Wales (with whom he is often heard on
Radio 3), and the Rose City Chamber Orchestra.
Kenneth Woods made his commercial recording debut as a conductor in
sessions for Avie Records with the Northern Sinfonia. The disc of world-
premiere recordings of music by Austrian émigré composer Hans Gál has been
hailed by The Strad, Classical Music, Classical CD Reviews and Musical
Pointers for its “committed performances”, “first class” and “quick witted” playing
and Gramophone underlined Woods’ “highly polished account, with orchestral
playing throughout most assured.” In June 2010, he was invited by the Stradivari
Trust to conduct their 25th anniversary concert, featuring a string orchestra of
many of the world’s leading soloists and chamber musicians including Natalie
Clein, Lawrence Power, Guy Johnston, Matthew Trussler and the Endellion and
Fitzwilliam String Quartets.His blog, A View from the Podium, is one of the 25
most popular classical music blogs in the world.
Woods’ unique gifts were widely acknowledged early on by some of today’s
leading conductors. In the spring of 2001, Kenneth Woods was selected by
Leonard Slatkin as one of four participants in the National Conducting Institute
at the Kennedy Center. At the completion of the Institute, he led the National
Symphony Orchestra in a debut concert, drawing great critical acclaim. In the
spring of 2000, David Zinman selected Kenneth Woods from a pool of over 200
applicants to be a fellow in the inaugural class of the American Academy of
Conducting at Aspen. Toronto Symphony Music Director Peter Oundjian has
praised Woods as “a conductor with true vision and purpose. He has a most fluid
and clear style and an excellent command on the podium… a most complete
musician.”
Kenneth Woods has conducted critically praised productions of operas from
Britten to Puccini, and ballet scores as diverse as Giselle, the Nutcracker and
Firebird. Woods’ work as an active proponent of contemporary music includes
collaborations with composers including John Corigliano, Krystopf Penderecki,
Peter Lieberson and Oliver Knussen.
In 2005, he was asked by the musicians of the Rose City Chamber Orchestra to
found a new professional training institute for young conductors. In just four years
under his leadership, the Rose City International Conductor’s Workshop has
become widely recognized as one of the leading training centers in the world for
young conductors, drawing students from the world’s leading conservatories and
nations as diverse as Argentina, Japan, Korea, Germany, Spain, Israel, Mexico,
Brazil, Russia and Canada. In 2009, the RCICW will be the subject of a major
documentary on American television.
As a cellist he has been recipient of the Aspen Fellowship (Mr. Woods has
received the Aspen Fellowship as both a cellist and conductor), the Dale Gilbert
Award (the only musician to win this award in consecutive years), the Strelow
Quartet Fellowship, the National Endowment for the Arts Rural Residency
Grant and has recorded and toured extensively as soloist and chamber
musician. He has played chamber music with members of the Chamber Music
Society of Lincoln Center, the Smithsonian Chamber Players, the Cincinnati,
Chicago and Toronto symphonies, and the Minnesota, Gewandhaus and
Concertgebow orchestras. He was founding cellist of the National Endowment
for the Arts recognized Taliesin Trio, and of the Masala Quartet, who have
recorded for Vienna Modern Masters and appeared at festivals and concert
series’ in the US and Europe. He is currently cellist of the string trio Ensemble
Epomeo, with whom he performs regularly in the UK, Europe and the USA.
Mr. Woods pursued his advanced conducting studies as a fellowship student at
the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and also studied at
leading summer institutes and workshops around the world. He has studied
conducting with Leonard Slatkin, David Zinman, Jorma Panula, and Gerhard
Samuel. In this capacity as an assistant, he collaborated with James Conlon,
Jesus Lopez-Cobos, Paavo Jarvi, Richard Hickox, Robert Spano, Tadaaki Otaka,
Jiri Belohlavek and Peter Oundjian.