Kenneth Woods- a view from the podium

The musicians of the Rose City Chamber Orchestra are happy to announce a second selection round for the 2008 Rose City International Conductor’s Workshop, July 21-27 in Portland, Oregon. Interested conductors should submit their applications, including postmarking any materials that are being mailed, by May 7, 2008. Workshop faculty include David Hoose from Boston University, Christopher Zimmerman from the Hartt School and RCICW director, Kenneth Woods.

Four slots remain in each of the two programs. The Emerging Artist program offers advanced training at the highest level for conductors who have completed the bulk of their studies and are beginning to establish themselves in the professional arena. The Discovery Program is an intensive immersion in conducting and score study for young conductors beginning their studies, advanced instrumentalists with some previous conducting training, experienced amateurs and music educators.

The Emerging Artist program offers students the chance to work with full orchestra and professional soloists in repertoire including Beethoven’s String Quartet in F minor, op 95 as arranged by Mahler, Dvorak’s Wind Serenade, the 13 Instrument version of Copland’s Appalachian Spring, scenes from Puccini’s Madame Butterfly and the Brahms D minor Piano Concerto. All sessions are video-recorded to DVD in CD-quality audio. All Emerging Artist students also participate in a final concert.

Discovery Program repertoire includes Haydn’s Symphony no. 86, Stravinsky’s Octet for Winds and Beethoven’s Symphony no. 2 in D major, and all DP teaching sessions are also professionally videoed. Students in both programs will also participate jointly in seminars and discussion sections throughout the week.

This season’s soloists include pianist Rick Rowley, tenor Brennen Guillory and soprano Esther Mae Moses.

Apply online at www.rosecityworkshop.org

My March 9th concert with the Contemporary Music Ensemble of Wales will be broadcast this coming Saturday, April 19th, 2008 at 10:30 PM GMT. You can listen online at www.bbc.co.uk/radio3 live, and the show will be archived on the Radio 3 website for one week from the date of the broadcast.

In addition to three works by Gordon Downie, Earle Brown’s witty Novara and Mefano’s magical and ephemeral Interferances, the concert culminates in a performance of Xenakis masterful and deeply affecting Akrata.

For those interested in Xenakis, please check out On An Overgrown Path, where Pliable is focusing on the Greek master this week. Or check out some of my recent posts.

Re-blogged below is the broadcast info from the R3 website-  

Musical ModernismSaturday 19 April 2008 22:30-0:00 (Radio 3)

Ivan Hewett presents musical modernism new and old, with classic works of the 1960s alongside new pieces by Downie and Jarrell.

Duration: 1 hour 30 minutesPlaylist:

Downie: Fragments for cello and piano
Mefano: Interferences
Downie: Piano Piece 3
Brown: Novara
Downie: Forms 7: Non-mediated forms for 24 instrumentalists
Xenakis: Aktrata

John Senter (cello)
Ian Pace (piano)
Contemporary Music Ensemble of Wales
Kenneth Woods (conductor)
(Concert recorded last month at BBC Wales in Cardiff)

For those of you who followed the suprising controversy surrounding my interview with composer Gordon Downie with interest, his orchestral work “forms 6: event aggregates” will be the featured work on this week’s Pre-Hear on BBC Radio 3.

The show is at 9:45 PM GMT on Saturday, April 5 and can be heard via the R3 website as well as on terrestrial radio. 

forms 6 is performed by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales under my good friend Grant Llewellyn. It’s a very different piece from either of the works that featured on the Contemporary Music Ensemble of Wales program last month- piano piece 3 and forms 7. Those will be broadcast on Hear and Now on April 19^th.

UPDATE- The archived broadcast can be heard for the rest of this week here.

2008 Rose City International Conductor’s Workshop (www.rosecityworkshop.org).

As we prepare for our fourth summer of great music and good company in one of the most beautiful and dynamic cities in America, we’re very excited about this season’s repertoire and our guest artists.

David Hoose, Chris Zimmerman and I have worked hard to create a supportive, collegial atmosphere that stresses pragmatic and constructive approaches to teaching conducting with a strong emphasis on developing study skills. The musicians of the orchestra are deeply committed to the workshop and are intensely supportive of the students. We want our students to leave the workshop more competent and more confident. We were also one of the first workshops to put a huge emphasis on opera and concerto accompanying, and our students get the unique chance to work with professional soloists in the teaching sessions and concert.

We’ve always tried to be the greenest and most innovative workshop around- to the best of my knowledge we were the first conducting workshop to abandon tree killing bulk mailing of paper brochures and do all of our marketing via the internet, and we have also been the first workshop to accept applications, cvs and recommendations on line. This year we go one step further- conductors who have video of themselves on their webpages, YouTube or other video hosting services may use that as their audition video- you need never race to the post office to express mail another VHS taper or DVD again.

Please let our staff know if you have any questions at admin@rosecityworkshop.org

Meanwhile, some genral information on this year’s symposium follows-

(more…)

UPCOMING CONCERT-

Lancashire Chamber Orchestra

Sunday, January 20, 2009

7:30 PM

Altrincham Grammar School for Girls

Mozart- Overture to “Die Zauberflote”

Beethoven- Piano Concerto no. 4 in G major

Ivan Hovorum, piano

Beethoven- Symphony no 5 in C minor

Thoughts from Ken-

  (more…)

UPCOMING CONCERT

Surrey  Mozart Players

Menuhin Hall, Cobham

Saturday, 19 January, 2008

7:30 PM

Kodaly- Summer Evening (1905)

Schumann- Piano Concerto in A minor

Bobby Chen, piano

Haydn- Symphony no. 101 in D major (“The Clock.”)

Kodaly’s early masterwork, Summer Evening, written in 1905 is a study in atmosphere and color and is already full of the beautiful folk-styled melodies that would characterize his music throughout his life. I had put off programming the piece for many years based on some disappointing experiences playing it in orchestra, but last year I actually had time to look at the score and realized Kodaly was not to blame for my previous frustration.

Atmosphere is also key in Schumann’s understated, elegiac and elusive Piano Concerto… (more…)

The Rose City Chamber Orchestra (KW principal guest conductor) has been nominated for the first Oustanding Achievement in Classical Music Award as part of the 2008 Portland Music Awards sponsored by Music Spectator Magazine. Other nominees include the Oregon Symphony, James DePriest, Portland Cello Project and Jon Pittman. The awards show is January 28th, 2008. 

Highlights of the orchestra’s recent work include a residency by composer Christopher Thomas (this is his film website- he also has a strong background in “legit” composition) including a number of premieres, and a multi-year exploration of the musical arrangements made for the Verein für musikalische Privataufführungen (or Society for Private Musical Performances) under ths supervision of Arnold Schoenberg. The most recent installment in this series was the Schoenberg arrangement of Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with the American tenor Brennen Guillory and mezzo Alexis Hamilton. 

In 2005, the Rose City Chamber Orchestra undertook a major initiative in training young and emerging conductors when the musicians founded the Rose City International Conductor’s Workshop (KW director). In our first three years, the workshop has atttracted students literaly from all over the world, including many who are sure to be stars of the future. The workshop puts a uniquely high emphasis on accompanying and opera skills, regularly inviting professional soloists and singers to work in masterclasses with the student conductors. The Fourth Annual workshop takes place from July 22-27. 

The Rose City Chamber Orchestra was founded by, and remains entirely run by, musicians who wanted a group that gave them an opportunity to choose their own musical projects. I’m very, very proud to be associated with them, and very happy that their efforts have been rewarded with a bit of well-deserved recognition. The members of the committee put in hundreds of hours of work every year to keep the orchestra going, a degree of commitment and enthusiasm that’s all too rare today.Listen here to a small excerpt from our most recent concert

UPCOMING CONCERT

Oregon East Symphony
Oregon East Symphony Preparatory Orchestra
Saturday November 17^th, 2007
7:30 PM

Vert Auditorium
Pendleton, Oregon

Leandro Espinosa- Movement for Strings (World Premiere)
Leandro Espinosa, conducting
Dvorak- Serenade for Winds
Beethoven Symphony no. 8 in F Major
   (Combined OES and OES Preparatory Orchestra)

Composer Leandro Espinosa, Music Director of the Grande Ronde Symphony takes the OES podium to conduct the world premiere of his fascinating new work for string orchestra, then KW and the OES wind section play one of the gems of the wind repertoire (surely improved by Dvorak’s inclusion of the cello). Finally the symphony is joined by the young musicians of the OES preparatory for what promises to be a rambunctious and fiery performance of Beethoven’s wittiest work.
 

Ticket info from the OES office oes@uci.net for more info.

Guest Review for Surrey Advertiser

Surrey Mozart Players (SMP)

at Holy Trinity Church on Saturday 6 October 2007

Attending a concert by the SMP for the first time on 6th October I was most impressed by their performance under their conductor, Kenneth Woods; high praise from an aficionado of the Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam!

The opening Mozart Overture from Der Schauspieldirektor paid generous homage to the orchestra’s namesake, lively and rousing as it was.  This was followed by Fauré’s Suite Pelléas et Mélisande, in which the orchestra demonstrated a contrasting mood with sincere sensitivity.

The pièce de résistance was, of course, Parry Karp’s stunning performance of the Saint-Saëns Concerto no 2 in D minor for cello.  Mr. Karp produced a sound so beautiful that it was truly a rare and thrilling experience.  Not only was his sound magical, but his technique in this most difficult of works was outstanding.  He was well supported by the orchestra too, giving the performance a cohesive wholeness.

This was followed by the Romanza for cello and orchestra by Richard Strauss which was a further treat for the senses as once again we were transported- the church venue lending itself to soaring phrases and dynamic nuances of both cello and orchestra.  We felt honoured to have had this opportunity to hear such an artiste perform.

The concert closed brilliantly with the vivacious Sinfonietta for orchestra by Poulenc to end the most enjoyable evening.

Margaret Morley 7 October 2007

UPCOMING CONCERT

Oregon East Symphony

Sunday, October 21, 2007

3:15 PM, Vert Auditorium

Pendleton, Oregon

Haydn- Symphony No. 59 in A major “Fire”

Mahler- Symphony No. 4 in G major

Esther Moses Bergh, soprano

The best goddamn redneck orchestra in the world begins its 22^nd season this year. I remember my 22^nd year- it was the year I gave up rock ‘n’ roll for good and found my calling in life. (Okay, maybe not for good…. there may have been some backsliding) 

We’re delighted to be presenting the third program of our Mahler series at the Oregon East Symphony- a project generously sponsored by the Kinsman Foundation.

Joining the OES for this performance is my fellow CCM veteran, Esther Moses Bergh. One day, Cincinnati alumni will rule the world (although the cheese head mafia is also gaining in strength).

What else could we begin the season with after last season’s office fire than Haydn’s Fire Symphony? Never heard of it? Don’t worry- that’s what we love about Haydn- never a bad piece! It’s fantastic music (and quite a blow for the poor horns)….

Be there

Esther Moses Bergh

Soprano Esther Moses Bergh is a new member of the Oregon music community, having joined the Young Resident Artist Program and “Portland Opera Works!” this past year at the Portland Opera, under the direction of Robert Bailey and Diane Syrcle. This summer, she was selected to participate in the International Vocal Arts Institute. Moses relocated to Portland from Cincinnati, Ohio, where she completed her Master of Music degree under the instruction of vocal master, Barbara Honn. Her training also includes a music education degree. She has performed at the Tanglewood Music Center, the Opera Theatre of Lucca in Italy, in her home state of New Mexico, the College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) and here in Portland. In 1999, she came to Oregon for the first time performing the title role in Puccini’s “Suor Angelica” with Bel Canto Northwest Vocal Institute. Performances have included soloist in Haydn’s “Lord Nelson Mass” and the American premiere of Vivaldi’s first opera, “Ottone in Villa” at CCM, under the direction of Sandra Bernhard. Most recently, Esther performed the role of Violetta in “La Traviata” Preview Concerts for the Portland Opera. Last season, she made her debut with the Oregon Symphony in Portland.

UPCOMING CONCERT

Hereford String Orchestra

Saturday, June 30, 2007 8:00PM

Leominster Priory, Leonminster

Saint-Saens: Cello Concerto No. 1 in A minor — Nicholas Gethin, cello

Bruckner: Symphony No. 4 in E-Flat Major “Romantic” (ed. Haas – version of1881)

Nicholas Gethin Cello

Nick Gethin (shown) started life as a modern linguist, but wisely changed direction when he was nearly thrown out of Oxford for not working. Periods of study in London (with Florence Hooton) and Vienna (with Andre Navarra) culminated in offers of a principal job in Scotland, and a co-principal one at English National Opera. He opted for the warmer one in London. Later he joined the London Symphony Orchestra, which has been his “home” for the last twenty years. Nick has given solo recitals at the Wigmore Hall and Purcell Room, and at all the main recital venues in London, and has given performances of the Elgar, Dvorak, 2nd Shostakovich and Frank Bridge concertos, as well as the Rococo Variations and Don Quixote.