Bio
Kenneth Woods, conductor
Hailed by the Washington Post as an “up-and-coming conductor” and a “true star” of the podium, conductor and cellist Kenneth Woods is quickly becoming recognized as major talent on the international scene. He has worked with many orchestras of international distinction including the National Symphony Orchestra, the Cincinnati Symphony, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, the 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. 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 affiliations include Conductor of the Contemporary Music Ensemble of Wales, and Principal Guest Conductor of the Rose City Chamber Orchestra in Portland, Oregon.
In 2010, Woods takes up the position of Principal Guest Conductor of the Stratford-upon-Avon based virtuoso ensemble, Orchestra of the Swan, with whom he will be active on stage and in recordings. In September of 2009, Kenneth Woods made his recording debut as a conductor in sessions for Avie Records with the Northern Sinfonia at the Sage Gateshead. Other recent highlights include first appearances at the Bridgewater Hall, Menuhin Hall, Albert Hall, Royal Concert Hall of Nottingham and Bute Hall, Glasgow. In America, his recent performance of Jennifer Higdon’s new Soprano Saxophone Concerto at the Round Top Festival was recorded for NPR- a triumph that led to his immediate invitation to return in 2009, where he led a gala concert in celebration of the Haydn anniversary. His blog, A View from the Podium, has become widely popular with music lovers in the UK, Canada and the US and received wide acknowledgement from the music critics of the New Yorker, Wall Street Journal, Independent and Gramophone.
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 and a return invitation from the NSO. 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, Jennnifer Higdon and Peter Lieberson. An active cellist cello soloist and chamber musician, his colleagues include members of the Toronto, Chicago and Cincinnati Symphonies, the Minnesota, Gewandaus and Concertgebouw orchestras and the La Salle, Pro Arte, Tokyo and Audubon quartets. In 2009 his new string trio, Ensemble Epomeo, toured and extensively in the US and Europe, including appearances at several festivals, and were the subject of two major showcase concerts on public radio. Critical reception was rapturous- “”It was a magical evening — …magical. The trio, which came together last year at the Festivale d’alla Musica da Camera d’Ischia in Italy sounded like they had been playing together forever. When you encounter such inspired playing —wonderfully executed and, at times, absolutely breathtaking performances by players at the top of their game, up close and personal— all this talk about what’s what on the program becomes mere sport.”
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.
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